Studying abroad

[melbr 0]

Dear community

 

I have lived in the USA for 5 years, I came here to study English at first. And for 2 years I have had a GC that I got through my mother's husband

 

My dream has always been to go to medical school, but because of the high costs, costs of education and life in America, since I got my green card, I have worked as a nanny. I have nothing against this type of work but I wanted something more for myself.

 

I am having the opportunity to study medicine in South America, where I will receive the study completely free of charge as my grandparents will pay for it. The problem is that a medical course lasts 6 years

 

Is there any way for me to study in Brazil for 6 years without losing my green card?

 

My whole life is in the USA but I have read that it is not allowed to stay abroad for more than 6 months with the GC. Would you have any suggestions?

 

I will not be able to apply for citizenship in less than 3 years.

 

My plan is to study in Brazil and then return to America to do my medical residency and work here. Any suggestions on how to make this happen without harm my GC

[Dashinka 24,466]

One option is to wait for another 3 years and file for naturalization.

 

Good Luck!

[OldUser 6,586]

I'm afraid you would have to make difficult decisions as to what to prioritize - Green Card or degree.

 

There's four scenarios I'm going to describe below. Only one of them is reliable.

 

#1

You can file re-entry permit I-131 which gives you ability to stay outside of the US for up to 2 years. Theoretically you can keep filing it. Every time you'd come to the US, file it, wait for notice biometrics, and leave to South America. In practice though, this plan may not work and your LPR status may be taken away. I do not recommend this. Only if your studies were under 2 years.

 

#2

If your GC is still valid, say it has another 8 years, you could go study for 6 years and try coming back after graduating. Some people were lucky and never lost their status after long absense from the US. I do not recommend this, because it is a very risky thing to do, and success chance is not high.

 

#3

If you're married to a US citizen, even if you lose your LPR status, you can be sponsored again. Not a bulletproof plan either, because marriages sometimes fall apart. I do not recommend this.

 

#4

The only way you can guarantee you'll have access to the US after spending 6+ years overseas is to naturalize first. Get US citizenship, then you can do whatever you want. Obviously, this may not align with your life plans. I can only recommend this.

 

 

Other than #4, I cannot think how you can guarantee your return to the US.

 

1 minute ago, Dashinka said:

One option is to wait for another 3 years and file for naturalization.

 

Good Luck!

Agreed, that's the only viable option.

Edited September 27, 2023 by OldUser

[JeanneAdil 6,484]

i applaud you for wanting to enter a long term of hard study and workload

 

Have u talked to a counselor at a medical college for the best possible advice?  there may be ways for u to study here 

 

understand 2 things

 

The US does not recognize post-graduate medical training from any country except Canada. The US and Canada have similar medical training and licensing systems. You will need to repeat your residency and fellowship training. First, you will need to register with ECFMG.

 

And

A Postgraduate Training License is issued to an individual who has graduated from an approved medical school, passed all required examinations, has not received either a minimum of 12-months credit (for U.S. or Canadian medical school graduates) or 24-months credit (for international medical school graduates) 

 

So  a degree from any county other than Canada means 24 more months of study in the US (expensive)  and then acceptance into a residency program

 

you may want to read this US New article  on how to attend free

and believe it or not but international students have access to more scholarships and grants than a USC

 

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/articles/2017-07-13/how-to-attend-medical-school-for-free

[JeanneAdil 6,484]

My other thought is 

 

step 1 attend a local community college (tuition is low) and take all the science courses they offer 

helps to know Latin for medical degree  AS degree 60 credits 

Step 2 transfer to 4 year college for degree in Biology BS degree 120 credits 

work hard at this and the above stage to get a scholarship 

then 

Step 3 apply to accredited medical college (take out a loan if u have to)

 

the very best to u 

GO FOR IT

[Boiler 45,434]

Surrender GC

 

Mother petitions you to immigrate

 

So not marry

 

Sometime after you have your qualifications your petition  becomes available and you immigrate

[melbr 0]

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

I'm afraid you would have to make difficult decisions as to what to prioritize - Green Card or degree.

 

There's four scenarios I'm going to describe below. Only one of them is reliable.

 

#1

You can file re-entry permit I-131 which gives you ability to stay outside of the US for up to 2 years. Theoretically you can keep filing it. Every time you'd come to the US, file it, wait for notice biometrics, and leave to South America. In practice though, this plan may not work and your LPR status may be taken away. I do not recommend this. Only if your studies were under 2 years.

 

#2

If your GC is still valid, say it has another 8 years, you could go study for 6 years and try coming back after graduating. Some people were lucky and never lost their status after long absense from the US. I do not recommend this, because it is a very risky thing to do, and success chance is not high.

 

#3

If you're married to a US citizen, even if you lose your LPR status, you can be sponsored again. Not a bulletproof plan either, because marriages sometimes fall apart. I do not recommend this.

 

#4

The only way you can guarantee you'll have access to the US after spending 6+ years overseas is to naturalize first. Get US citizenship, then you can do whatever you want. Obviously, this may not align with your life plans. I can only recommend this.

 

 

Other than #4, I cannot think how you can guarantee your return to the US.

 

Agreed, that's the only viable option.

 

Thank you for all the information and for taking the time to help me. I know it's a really hard decision

 

About the options that you showed me:

 

1 - I was reading about a Reentry permit, and apparently  "there's no offical limit on how many times you can apply for a re-entry permit" . I know in the end of the day CBP do what they want to do ,  but can you please share with me ~why~ do you think the "reentry permit plan" may not work? My understanding is that if they approve a Reentry Permit, that means they are OK with you being abroad for that "period"?

 

Do you know stories of people who had trouble with CBP/ USCIS even with a valid non-expired reentry permit?

 

2- this option doesn't work for me because I have family and friends in the US, so I would have to come home every 4 or 6 months. Also I would be spending here all my vacation ( like 2 months every year ). In your opinion coming here often is even worse than stay out for 6 years?

 

3- getting married is not the case for me

 

4- I have to wait 3 years and 1 month to apply to citizenship. and even after that, probably more 1 year waiting to get approved...we are talking about more than 4 years....I can't wait that long!

 

I know its a hard decision that I have to make

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OldUser 6,586]

"As a US permanent resident, you are required to maintain your status. Leaving the US for 6 months or longer, or frequent travel out of the country, can put your status at risk. Immigration officers may check to see if you have abandoned your status. Your status can be abandoned if your trip outside of the US was not temporary.

 

Temporary means that at the time you left the US, and throughout the entire time you were outside of the US, you had the intention to return to the US as your home or place of employment. The trip should be for a definite reason and should be expected to terminate within a relatively short period of time.

 

A reentry permit helps to protect your status because it creates a legal presumption that your travel outside of the US was temporary as defined above.

 

The issue with applying for multiple reentry permits is that once you've already received multiple reentry permits, it becomes increasingly difficult to prove that your travels and absence from the US are truly temporary in nature"

 

Source: https://www.ashoorilaw.com/blog/how-many-times-can-i-apply-for-a-reentry-permit/

 

@melbr I may be able to find examples of cases which didn't work out. At the same time, I haven't met personally who managed to pull this off successfully or found data points suggesting it's easy.

 

How are you going to maintain your ties to the US while overseas for 6 years?

Do you have a property in the US? 

[melbr 0]

13 minutes ago, OldUser said:

"As a US permanent resident, you are required to maintain your status. Leaving the US for 6 months or longer, or frequent travel out of the country, can put your status at risk. Immigration officers may check to see if you have abandoned your status. Your status can be abandoned if your trip outside of the US was not temporary.

 

Temporary means that at the time you left the US, and throughout the entire time you were outside of the US, you had the intention to return to the US as your home or place of employment. The trip should be for a definite reason and should be expected to terminate within a relatively short period of time.

 

A reentry permit helps to protect your status because it creates a legal presumption that your travel outside of the US was temporary as defined above.

 

The issue with applying for multiple reentry permits is that once you've already received multiple reentry permits, it becomes increasingly difficult to prove that your travels and absence from the US are truly temporary in nature"

 

Source: https://www.ashoorilaw.com/blog/how-many-times-can-i-apply-for-a-reentry-permit/

 

@melbr I may be able to find examples of cases which didn't work out. At the same time, I haven't met personally who managed to pull this off successfully or found data points suggesting it's easy.

 

How are you going to maintain your ties to the US while overseas for 6 years?

Do you have a property in the US? 

 

I understand! and looks like reentry permit processing time is more than 1 year...that makes everything even more confuse!

if you find any example of case which did not work out, can you share with me??

I need to know everything about this process before I make a decision!

 

and No I dont have a property in the US. only family, friends, bank account. DL, tax returns, things like that

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by melbr
extra information

[Boiler 45,434]

Currently we see people who have been gone a decade or more just walk back in, whether that will continue to be the case who knows.

 

You seem to be asking how do I remain a Permanent Resident when not being a Permanent Resident. 

[OldUser 6,586]

5 minutes ago, Boiler said:

You seem to be asking how do I remain a Permanent Resident when not being a Permanent Resident. 

Good summary!

[melbr 0]

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Currently we see people who have been gone a decade or more just walk back in, whether that will continue to be the case who knows.

 

You seem to be asking how do I remain a Permanent Resident when not being a Permanent Resident. 

 

I have ve been reading these stories about people coming back after. 8,9,10 years.

The problem is that I wanna come back every 4-6 months. 

 

The reason Im asking about the Reentry permit is , if that -if exists - its a legal way to stay out of the country and remain a Permanent Resident

I just wanna understand more about the process before I make a decisions. I dont wanna break the rules, I dont wanna commit fraud. I just wanna understand what really means to have a Reentry permit in this case

 

[Boiler 45,434]

A few years back somebody I knew had been out for 4 or 5 months, Football Coach, came back and was given such a grilling he waited until he naturalised before doing it again.

 

Nobody here knows what will happen to you.

[OldUser 6,586]

21 minutes ago, melbr said:

The problem is that I wanna come back every 4-6 months. 

The more times you talk to CBP the more chance is your LPR may get in danger. That's all I know.

[Crazy Cat 41,770]

17 minutes ago, melbr said:

The problem is that I wanna come back every 4-6 months. 

 

The reason Im asking about the Reentry permit is , if that -if exists - its a legal way to stay out of the country and remain a Permanent Resident

 

Repeated 6 month periods outside the US will, very likely, draw unwanted attention.   I think @OldUser eloquently laid out the options.  Your plan for a 6 year education outside the US just isn't consistent with easily maintaining LPR status.  Note that your plan would also require a long period before you could file for US citizenship.