Family Health issue with 2 year conditional visa

[ttpru1 0]

Hello! (Please let me know if this is not in the right area)

 

My husband and I have finally gotten his work visa and his green card (which is a 2 year conditional). We recently found out his mother has cancer back in New Zealand, and would like to go back and be with her .. but we aren't sure what this means for our visa process? Do we need to apply for something to leave for a longer time? We don't plan on staying a year, but probably longer than 6 months.

 

Any advice and help is appreciated!

 

Thank You

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/international-travel-a-permanent-resident

 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence

[Roel 7,192]

13 minutes ago, ttpru1 said:

Hello! (Please let me know if this is not in the right area)

 

My husband and I have finally gotten his work visa and his green card (which is a 2 year conditional). We recently found out his mother has cancer back in New Zealand, and would like to go back and be with her .. but we aren't sure what this means for our visa process? Do we need to apply for something to leave for a longer time? We don't plan on staying a year, but probably longer than 6 months.

 

Any advice and help is appreciated!

 

Thank You

You dont have any "work visa " or any Visa process going on.

 

Your husband has a green card, not a visa.  He can leave US but its advices to not stay away longer than 6 months. If he wants to stay away longer he needs reentry permit. 

[Mrsjackson 300]

I’ve wondered myself as they don’t give you a time limit on how long you can remain outside the US on AP. “Extended period of time” is a tad vague. 

[ttpru1 0]

3 minutes ago, Roel said:

You dont have any "work visa " or any Visa process going on.

 

Your husband has a green card, not a visa.  He can leave US but its advices to not stay away longer than 6 months. If he wants to stay away longer he needs reentry permit. 

Sorry - I am still trying to wrap my head around this whole process/situation - thank you for the response.. I didn't realize he needed a re-entry permit - everywhere I've read states we can technically leave as long as we are back before the one year mark. I'll look into the permit!

[ttpru1 0]

4 minutes ago, Mrsjackson said:

I’ve wondered myself as they don’t give you a time limit on how long you can remain outside the US on AP. “Extended period of time” is a tad vague. 

Yes! exactly! and also, when I brought up going back to NZ for a 6 month period of time after we get approved, our  interviewer seemed to think that was a terrible idea. (This was all before his mother got sick) - So now I'm just hoping its possible to do this without abandoning all of our time and efforts thus far!

[Ontarkie 14,143]

~~MOved to Working and Traveling, from AOS Family -  The OP's husband already has his GC and need to leave the US temporarily.~~

[Ontarkie 14,143]

He doesn't need reentry permit if gone less than a year. If there is any chance it will be longer than that get it now as it needs to be applied for before travel. 

[Lil bear 4,083]

15 minutes ago, ttpru1 said:

Yes! exactly! and also, when I brought up going back to NZ for a 6 month period of time after we get approved, our  interviewer seemed to think that was a terrible idea. (This was all before his mother got sick) - So now I'm just hoping its possible to do this without abandoning all of our time and efforts thus far!

You do not need a reentry permit for a trip less than 12 months. You do need to ensure you demonstrate that , while out of the US for any  period , that you were temporarily overseas , and your permanent residence  remained in the US.  Things like working overseas, establishing a home , using support  services only available to “ residents “ of the overseas country , can lead to the assumption that you have established your US residency in lieu of  establishing in another country 

Separately ,an absence of over 6 months can interrupt your “continuous residency “ status when applying for citizenship. But this will only delay it ... 

[mmsk 9]

If I’m in your situation, I will apply for re entry permit and leave the US after completing biometric and choose the option to send the re entry permit to US embassy in New Zealand in the form I-131. He will get his biometric appointment within 90 days after filing I-131 form. 

In his case ( conditional green card), usually the re entry permit will be valid until the conditional green card expire day. 

Just in case if he wants to stay longer than 12 months consecutively with his mom.

 

I hope that his mom will feel better soon. 

 

[little immigrant 800]

Hi there I'm sorry about your mom's cancer. I hope you can go back and give her the support she needs. This is priority. 

 

I just wanted to point out that leaving the US for a longer time it might delay your eligibility for citizenship. I'm sure that's not a worry for you right now but something to keep in mind. 

 

All the best to you both and your mom.