Impact of Extended Travel on LPR Status

[ScotInTheUSA 0]

Hello everyone,

 

I’m looking for some advice regarding my LPR status and travel plans. I’ve been a green card holder since I moved to the United States in 2017. My wife and I sublet our apartment for a year at the end of April 2024 and decided to do some traveling.

 

We left the U.S. on May 1st, 2024, for a three-month trip around Latin America and returned on July 31st, 2024. Since then, we’ve been staying with my in-laws in the U.S. before leaving for Europe on August 21st, 2024.

 

We’re considering continuing our travels in Europe and eventually Asia. However, we’re concerned about how long we can stay abroad without risking our LPR status. We understand that being outside of the U.S. for over 6 months can raise questions at the border and potentially put our green card status at risk. But we are wondering if the fact that we were in Latin America for an extended period earlier this year might be taken into consideration.

 

Does it make a difference if we stay abroad for the next 6 months, versus 9 months in terms of maintaining our LPR status? Should we plan to return to the U.S. before the 6-month mark to avoid issues, or would it make any difference if we extended our travels?

 

Any insights or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you!

Edited August 26 by ScotInTheUSA

[OldUser 6,774]

Any trip over 6 months affects your timeline for naturalization. Every time you spend over 6 months overseas in one trip, you're breaking continuous residency (with some exceptions).

 

This means, you start counting 3 or 5 years for naturalizing not from the time you became a resident, but the date you came back to the US from 6+ months trip.

 

 

There's nothing particular about 9 months, but if you stay overseas for over 12 months, you risk losing LPR status. Upon entry to the US, it's possible the officer would offer you to give up GC voluntarily by signing I-407 OR refer you to immigration court.

Edited August 26 by OldUser

[OldUser 6,774]

Another thing to keep in mind is physical presence. You need at least 30 months in the last 5 years (or 18 months in the the last three years if applying for citizenship based on marriage to US citizen).

 

The best advice I can give:

 

Create Google Sheet listing all of your trips since becoming LPR. Date you left, date you returned and which countries you visited on that trip. All of this will be handy at your N-400 stage.

 

Also, it's best not to think in categories of maximum time outside the US. If you keep trips to few months a year, that would make it easy for naturalization. If you're traveling outside the US too often and for long periods, this will eventually trigger more scrutiny from CBP.

 

Green card is for living in the US, after all.

Edited August 26 by OldUser

[wildbug100420 115]

16 minutes ago, ScotInTheUSA said:

Hello everyone,

 

I’m looking for some advice regarding my LPR status and travel plans. I’ve been a green card holder since I moved to the United States in 2017. My wife and I sublet our apartment for a year at the end of April 2024 and decided to do some traveling.

 

We left the U.S. on May 1st, 2024, for a three-month trip around Latin America and returned on July 31st, 2024. Since then, we’ve been staying with my in-laws in the U.S. before leaving for Europe on August 21st, 2024.

 

We’re considering continuing our travels in Europe and eventually Asia. However, we’re concerned about how long we can stay abroad without risking our LPR status. We understand that being outside of the U.S. for over 6 months can raise questions at the border and potentially put our green card status at risk. But we are wondering if the fact that we were in Latin America for an extended period earlier this year might be taken into consideration.

 

Does it make a difference if we stay abroad for the next 6 months, versus 9 months in terms of maintaining our LPR status? Should we plan to return to the U.S. before the 6-month mark to avoid issues, or would it make any difference if we extended our travels?

 

Any insights or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you!

Apply for citizenship. Come and go as you please with us passport 

[OldUser 6,774]

1 minute ago, wildbug100420 said:

Apply for citizenship. Come and go as you please with us passport 

That's a very good suggestion, given OP is LPR from 2017. If big trips can be paused for 6-9-12 months, this gives enough time to naturalize and have ultimate flexibility.