Possibilities for Same-sex couples to leave US

[GandD2018 0]

Hi. My name is Gerome, originally from the Philippines, and permanent residency card holder thru same-sex marriage. My husband and I are planning to move to the Philippines this year. However we're concern about how my status here is going to be affected. We're going to sell our house, leaving us with no address. I just wanna know my options, since we're still planning to go back here and stay for a long time vacation (like at least a month). What are the options that we need to do on my status?

[TBoneTX 45,333]

Thread is moved from Off Topic to the General Immigration Discussion forum.

[GandD2018 0]

Thank you @TBoneTX for moving this.

 

[Illiria 980]

If you are moving to the Philippines permanently you won’t be a US permanent resident anymore and will need to apply for a tourist visa to visit the US. 

 

If if this is a temporary situation you could try to apply for a re entry permit but you would need to show that you are coming back to live/ that this is not a permanent move out of the US.

 

When did you get your permanent residency? Why don’t you wait and apply to be a us citizen then you can live in the Phillipines and visit the us whenever you like?

Edited January 4, 2018 by Illiria

[GandD2018 0]

Thanks @Illiria.

 

I feel like yes, applying for US citizenship is my only option for me to be allowed to visit US whenever we like.

 

The only option we thought was just to renew my residency card every 2 years (or 5 years as what I can remember from the USCIS rep told me) and ask for re-entry permit>> has anyone done this before, or currently doing this?

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

10 minutes ago, GandD2018 said:

Thanks @Illiria.

 

I feel like yes, applying for US citizenship is my only option for me to be allowed to visit US whenever we like.

 

The only option we thought was just to renew my residency card every 2 years (or 5 years as what I can remember from the USCIS rep told me) and ask for re-entry permit>> has anyone done this before, or currently doing this?

 

 

A re-entry permit allows you to be out of the US for 2 years without automatically losing your permanent residency, but you can only renew to allow a maximum of total 5 years outside the US. I presume you are also aware that as long as you have a green card you are required to file an annual tax return with the IRS even if you live outside. If you only ever want to go back for visits, it seems to make more sense to give up your green card and apply for a tourist visa. You seem to be looking at a green card as some sort of super visa, which it’s not. It’s intended and designed for people to actually live in the US, and a reentry permit is designed for those who have concrete plans to resume residence at some future stage.

 

 

Edited January 4, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[GandD2018 0]

51 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

A re-entry permit allows you to be out of the US for 2 years without automatically losing your permanent residency, but you can only renew to allow a maximum of total 5 years outside the US. I presume you are also aware that as long as you have a green card you are required to file an annual tax return with the IRS even if you live outside. If you only ever want to go back for visits, it seems to make more sense to give up your green card and apply for a tourist visa. You seem to be looking at a green card as some sort of super visa, which it’s not. It’s intended and designed for people to actually live in the US, and a reentry permit is designed for those who have concrete plans to resume residence at some future stage.

 

 

Hmm...this gives me more of an idea @SusieQQQ. Thanks for your input. I will think about this before we decided to leave this year. Currently, Im planning to rely with an online job to earn, and to use a US address for tax purposes. Will keep this in mind, or else you're right, will just give up the residency card and apply for tourist visa if we're planning to go back here for long vacation or short visit.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

By the way, your title is a bit confusing, because the fact that it’s a same sex marriage is irrelevant? Or is that not legal where you plan to settle and that’s somehow another problem not mentioned so far?

[GandD2018 0]

11 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

By the way, your title is a bit confusing, because the fact that it’s a same sex marriage is irrelevant? Or is that not legal where you plan to settle and that’s somehow another problem not mentioned so far?

Ammm..yes. Same-sex marriage is not yet legal in the Philippines where we will be moving into. I believe that when we move there, our US marriage will technically be zero.