Length of Travel Outside the U.S.?

[swhang 8]

I'm considering accepting a job offer outside the United States. It's a permanent role. We are Sept 2021 ROC filers. If I accept the role, I'm thinking the company may ask us to move there by November 2022. 

 

So the question is, how long can we stay outside the United States? I can, of course, ask relatives to keep checking my mail so that we can get any documentation they send us. If there's a specific date we need to show up by, we can fly back for that date. 

[milimelo 4,486]

I wouldn’t go anywhere on permanent basis until I had completed naturalization and had US passport in hand.
 

Max 6 months at a time so you don’t disrupt residency if you’re not going to naturalize. 

[Mike E 11,739]

8 minutes ago, swhang said:

 . 

 

So the question is, how long can we stay outside the United States?

180 days is the written standard.  Some people are found by CBP to have abandoned status with shorter absences.  

8 minutes ago, swhang said:

I can, of course, ask relatives to keep checking my mail so that we can get any documentation they send us. If there's a specific date we need to show up by, we can fly back for that date. 

You should file I-131 to get a re-entry permit. This will let you stay out of the USA for up to 2 years 

 

Note that any continuous absence of 181 days or more will be presumed to have broken continuous residency for naturalization purposes.  

[swhang 8]

What if we're ok with simply ROC and being on green card? We're learning on her keeping her Korean citizenship b/c of its excellent healthcare system and if things in the United States keep going down, then the path to Korean would be open. 

 

So if we're only interested in ROC right now, is travel outside the United States for 180+ days fine? Once we get notification and if another interview if required for ROC, we can just fly back. 

[OldUser 6,716]

2 minutes ago, swhang said:

So if we're only interested in ROC right now, is travel outside the United States for 180+ days fine?

No

[Mike E 11,739]

3 minutes ago, swhang said:

  

 

So if we're only interested in ROC right now, is travel outside the United States for 180+ days fine? Once we get notification and if another interview if required for ROC, we can just fly back. 

Continuous absences more than 180 days are not fine.  File I-131 to get a re-entry permit.  

[Boiler 45,551]

How permanent is permanent.

[swhang 8]

38 minutes ago, Boiler said:

How permanent is permanent.

 

It's a permanent position. So it's either until when I resign or I am let go. The company will give me 38 days of vacation per year and so that should leave me enough time to come back and deal with any immigration issues. 

[OldUser 6,716]

2 minutes ago, swhang said:

 

It's a permanent position. So it's either until when I resign or I am let go. The company will give me 38 days of vacation per year and so that should leave me enough time to come back and deal with any immigration issues. 

38 days per year, even if you spend them all in the US is not enough to maintain your permanent residency. You have to decide whether:

- you live in the US until you naturalize and then move overseas if you wish

- you abandon your permanent residency in the US

 

You can obtain re-entry permit that's valid for up to 2 years, but that's not a permanent solution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Daphne . 1,870]

5 hours ago, swhang said:

What if we're ok with simply ROC and being on green card? We're learning on her keeping her Korean citizenship b/c of its excellent healthcare system and if things in the United States keep going down, then the path to Korean would be open. 

 

So if we're only interested in ROC right now, is travel outside the United States for 180+ days fine? Once we get notification and if another interview if required for ROC, we can just fly back. 

A green card is for living in the US. You will be living outside of the US. Trying to ‘check back in’ with the US every now and then is not going to cut it and will eventually be cause for losing your green card.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

8 hours ago, swhang said:

So if we're only interested in ROC right now, is travel outside the United States for 180+ days fine? Once we get notification and if another interview if required for ROC, we can just fly back. 

No, it’s not. Think of it this way: why would the government give permanent residence to someone not living in the US?

[Dashinka 24,515]

There is always the option of filing the I407, formally giving up the green card, and if plans change in a few years, file for a new spousal visa.  Less gymnastics involved in trying to maintain LPR status.

[Crazy Cat 41,898]

7 hours ago, swhang said:

 

It's a permanent position. So it's either until when I resign or I am let go. The company will give me 38 days of vacation per year and so that should leave me enough time to come back and deal with any immigration issues. 

That is an inaccurate assumption.  Maintaining US residency requires more than popping back into the US a few days a year. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

Does South Korea not allow dual citizenship?

[Crazy Cat 41,898]

36 minutes ago, EM_Vandaveer said:

Does South Korea not allow dual citizenship?

No, according to my research.