Hello.
I'm a military spouse and a U.S. permanent resident. We're PCSing to Japan next month. Due to the medical reasons, EFMP didn't recommend me to travel overseas (mainly because of the medications I used to take in the past). Because of this, command sponsorship was denied, meaning my name is not on the order my husband received. Thankfully I still have a Japanese citizenship, and will have healthcare when I move there, so I decided to accompany him.
My main concern is the USCIS might think I've abandoned my permanent resident status by going back to my home country. We've contacted USCIS military help line several times, but each time we talk to them they give us different answers. Some told me we should file I-131 (request for reentry permit) before we leave, but it expires in 2 years and we'll be in Japan for at least 3 years. It means I might have to come back to the States to file the form again or pay fines when coming back for overstaying. Some agents told us we could file it when we come back to the States, but said it's "totally up to your decision," which confused us even more.
I understand as a military spouse, I may still be allowed to reenter the country even with the expired green card, but I'm still worried that I might have issues with USCIS because of it. We've scheduled an appointment with the military base legal office to discuss about our situation next week.
Did anybody experienced the same/similar situations? The reason why we still haven't figured this out yet is because EFMP process took so long and my husband received the official order less than a month ago. Since we don't have much time until we leave the country, any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.