Questions regarding Traveling outside of the US after Marriage

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

I'm a digital nomad who works online and my husband, who came in through the K1, is a green card holder. I totally understand where you are coming from.The part between getting married and waiting for AP was the hardest part because it was the longest we could not travel internationally (about 6 months). We are used to constant international traveling. We did some backpacking and camping trips through the US and we went to Alaska during that time which was pretty fun. Once my husband got AP, we started traveling again but we kept trips short to about 1 month until he got his green card (which was a year after our wedding). Since then, we went back to traveling again and haven't had issues. We were out of the country 5.5 months combined in 2019 (1 month trip in South America, 4.5 month trip to Europe). He was never questioned about anything when returning to the US and to be honest, we weren't worried. Under 6 months is fine, so maybe you could spend 5 months in Thailand over the next few years? We were going to do it again this year until Covid hit (which is probably going to help our case when it comes time for citizenship since we can't travel haha), so we have only been out of the country 1 month so far in 2020. We feel exactly as you do. We want to split the time between my husband's country and the US and will likely want to spend even more time out of the US if trump gets another 4 years, so I 100% understand where you are coming from. I think the biggest thing they will look for during ROC or citizenship is the ties to the US. My husband is still enrolled in college, which is a tie. Good luck! 

[baze92 33]

@Sarah&Facundo Hey! Nice to a couple in the same situation as us!

So basically it took you about 6 months to get advanced parole and a year after marriage to get his green card?

 

That's so awesome you didn't have any issues. Were you with him at immigration when they asked him questions or was he at a different immigration officer? They never asked you anything?

Does your husband take online classes? We will need to make sure my fiance has some additional ties to US as well. She will have her drivers license, taxes, etc. She plans to work remotely as well either self employed or for a US company. 

Traveling for ~5 months of the year has been our plan - until researching more and literally nearly everyone saying this is a bad idea. Honestly, you are the first person I have heard from who has done this. Are you worried about it affecting his chances for citizenship? Definitely don't think it's impossible but sounds pretty risky 😕 In that case, are you guys ok if he doesn't get citizenship? 

 

 

[baze92 33]

@Sarah&Facundo By the way, I did just speak with someone who did travel for 4 months and when he came back the border agent pulled him aside and almost didn't let him through. Had to get the supervisor involved and they almost suspended his green card. Just something to keep in mind 😕

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, baze92 said:

Were you with him at immigration when they asked him questions or was he at a different immigration officer? They never asked you anything?

Note that Sarah's husband traveled abroad with AP last year. CBP tends to let AP holders back into the US as long as they enter before the AP document expires and the filed Form I-485 hasn't been denied; the AP document is usually issued with 1-year validity. CBP technically* has broad discretion on AP entry, but the vast majority of AP holders enter without issue.

 

*https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM020203.html "A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between DHS component agencies, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sets out the division of responsibility for parole of each DHS agency.  While USCIS and ICE can authorize issuance of an advance parole document, CBP makes the actual decision whether to parole an individual when the individual arrives at the port of entry in the United States on a case-by-case basis."

Edited June 14, 2020 by HRQX

[baze92 33]

1 minute ago, HRQX said:

Note that Sarah's husband traveled abroad with AP last year. CBP tends to let AP holders back into the US as long as they enter before the AP document expires and the pending Form I-485 hasn't been denied; the AP document is usually issued with 1-year validity. CBP technically* has broad discretion on AP entry, but the vast majority of AP holders enter without issue.

 

*https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM020203.html "A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between DHS component agencies, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sets out the division of responsibility for parole of each DHS agency.  While USCIS and ICE can authorize issuance of an advance parole document, CBP makes the actual decision whether to parole an individual when the individual arrives at the port of entry in the United States on a case-by-case basis."

All very broad terminology..  

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

When we traveled to his home country on AP, he was just taken to secondary to get the stamp to let him back in which is customary for everyone traveling on AP. They just asked where he went and for how long, which was a month. No further questions. It took about 5 minutes.

 

When we traveled on his green card, which we have done several times, there has never been a problem. We always traveled together. We always go through the US Citizen/Permanent Resident line together. They never ask anything more than where we went and for how long. We have never lied. They just say welcome back to the US. 

 

He goes to college and when we traveled last summer around Europe from mid-May until the end of August, he went to school online. He has a job at a store when we aren't traveling.

 

Ties could probably helpful, but again we were never asked anything. We pay taxes, we were out less than 6 months each time, and stayed within the law. I don't see where there would be an issue so I have never been worried about it. 

 

Citizenship requires staying in the US for 18 months out of the 3 years. We are adhering to that (especially now as the months rack up being stuck here with the pandemic)!

Edited June 14, 2020 by Sarah&Facundo

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

1 hour ago, baze92 said:

@Sarah&Facundo By the way, I did just speak with someone who did travel for 4 months and when he came back the border agent pulled him aside and almost didn't let him through. Had to get the supervisor involved and they almost suspended his green card. Just something to keep in mind 😕

I feel like there needs to be more to the story. A green card doesn't prohibit traveling, especially for just four months. And ultimately, this person was allowed back in. We aren't the only people who travel on green cards.

[TBoneTX 45,273]

Thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Working & Traveling forum -- topic is chiefly the latter.

[baze92 33]

@Sarah&FacundoI totally agree with you. I'm just sharing what i have been told by 95% of the people I have talked to. 

I have been told those rules are in place for emergency travels and not necessarily for traveling just to travel. The point of the green card is to have permanent residency and if you are constantly out of the country, it doesn't look good (what i have been told). 

 

I need to research what would happen if a green card was suspended for worst case scenario, but if we go the green card route, we certainly will want to travel. 

 

Still trying to figure out what is best for us.

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

7 hours ago, baze92 said:

@Sarah&FacundoI totally agree with you. I'm just sharing what i have been told by 95% of the people I have talked to. 

I have been told those rules are in place for emergency travels and not necessarily for traveling just to travel. The point of the green card is to have permanent residency and if you are constantly out of the country, it doesn't look good (what i have been told). 

 

I need to research what would happen if a green card was suspended for worst case scenario, but if we go the green card route, we certainly will want to travel. 

 

Still trying to figure out what is best for us.

You can be a permanent resident who enjoys traveling. Being a LPR isn't a prison sentence and you don't need to be in an emergency to travel. Plenty of people travel with green cards. The idea is to be a resident of the US and not anywhere else. You can be out up to a year without filing for a re-entry permit. It is usually not even questioned if travel is under 6 months, which is why that is recommended, plus that sets you up well for citizenship (18 out of 36 months in the US). 

[baze92 33]

@Sarah&Facundo That's what I read it as, as well! Like I said just going by what everyone has told me in here.

 

That's great to hear it hasn't affected anything for you thus far, but since you have not got citizenship yet, there is no saying it won't negatively affect that.

[NDB052714 122]

On 6/13/2020 at 7:21 PM, baze92 said:

@Luckycuds Yea I understand. But you are saying 6.5 months. I never said over 6 months.

Honestly, we never plan to "settle" down. At least until we are much, much older. We are in our mid 20s. 

 

It's a shame for couples that live the digital nomad lifestyle. From my understanding, there is literally no way to do that if you want to obtain citizenship. 

 

With that being said, do you think there is any issue with just continuing to travel under 6 months every year and she would just continue living on her green card? Perhaps we would still have a shot being approved for her citizenship. As long as we are not going over 6 months, I don't think there is any negative consequences for us (outside of not getting citizenship)?

I know the answer might be to just push off the US marriage until we "settle down" but with our lifestlye that won't happen anytime soon and we do not want to keep pushing back the marriage. 

You don't offer many details about your nomadic lifestyle, but I'm sure you're aware that Thai passport holders have trouble wandering the globe (especially spontaneously) due to visa requirements so many countries impose. And having a US green card doesn't eliminate those onerous and expensive visa processes. A US passport makes globe trotting so much easier. 

[baze92 33]

Sorry if I was unclear. Let me know what as I can add.

 

Regarding her Thai passport, she has been to 23 countries and never one issue. We know another Thai traveler who has never had an issue either. Perhaps that’s a thing of the past or concern for other countries.

[NDB052714 122]

what do you mean it isn't an issue? so many countries require Thais to have visas...and the process takes time and is expensive. Depends on where you travel I guess...

[baze92 33]

Oh I thought you meant issues with getting in and out of a country. Yes there are also several she doesn’t need one and I do