Long Travel outside of US after green card

[visaq123 2]

Hi everyone. my husband is currently waiting for his green card interview date. we understand there are many delays due to the virus. We were hoping to travel back to his country ( for maybe up to a year) once he received his green card. will this cause any complications in his next green card process? or reentry ? or anything ?? we don’t want to take any chances or risk him losing what we worked so hard to get. Just unsure of the laws/procedures/ his rights. Thanks!

[Quarknase 1,072]

Depends really. A greencard is for permanent residency, not for occasional visits. They might not question him if he stays outside of the country for less than 6 months, after that they can ask questions and the burden is on him to proof that he didn't abandon his permanent residency. Permanent residency can be considered abandoned for instance if you don't maintain a home, job, etc in the US. If you work in a different country, you are clearly more a resident there than here.

If he stays outside of the country for more than a year, the automatic assumption is that LPR status has been abandoned and it would be an uphill battle to proof otherwise.

There is a waiver (re-entry permit) that he can apply for if you have reasons to stay outside the US for so long - but it must be approved before he departs.

[randomstairs 304]

44 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

Depends really. A greencard is for permanent residency, not for occasional visits. They might not question him if he stays outside of the country for less than 6 months, after that they can ask questions and the burden is on him to proof that he didn't abandon his permanent residency. Permanent residency can be considered abandoned for instance if you don't maintain a home, job, etc in the US. If you work in a different country, you are clearly more a resident there than here.

If he stays outside of the country for more than a year, the automatic assumption is that LPR status has been abandoned and it would be an uphill battle to proof otherwise.

There is a waiver (re-entry permit) that he can apply for if you have reasons to stay outside the US for so long - but it must be approved before he departs.

Working in another country is fine as long they don't stay there for more than 6 mo and they continue to file US resident taxes. So if a LPR files NR taxes or doesn't file them at all, while living abroad, then they've a problem.  Just working abroad is perfectly okay otherwise. 

[mmsk 9]

If you plan to stay out of the US for more than 1 Year continuously , you should get re-entry permit after your husband gets his green card.