Hello everyone,
My wife and I are planning on taking an extended vacation to her home country very soon. We were planning on staying there for about 7 to 8 months.
Will this be a problem for us when applying to remove conditions?
Thanks.

According to the form instructions, they make exceptions if you're overseas on active military duty or official government orders. It doesn't say anything about extended vacations:



You might be able to mail the filing from overseas, but the way I read the rules, you'd have to come back to the US to do your biometrics.

According to your timeline, your not due to apply until October 2008. When are you planning to leave?

Anything over six months can be iffy

If USCIS thinks she/you has intentions moving permanently.
They will deny her.
You may be on "shaky" ground.

My wife is in Thailand now, and I plan on meeting her there in january. She has her GC with her, but based on when we received it, it should be good for two years, correct? So I am assuming it will expire Feb. 2009. I will call her about this tomorrow.
Assuming we file the application 90 days prior, we would need to come back to the U.S. in November.
I am just curious if there is any rule stating that she must be here in the U.S. more than she is out of the country.
Mike

If she's out of the country for a year or more, then she would have a problem unless she applied for a re-entry permit before leaving the US. If she's gone less than a year than it would not be a problem provided you're with her for most of that time so you can show USCIS concrete evidence that the marriage is bona fide when you apply to remove conditions. That said, the amount of time spent outside the US will have an impact on when she will be eligible to apply for citizenship.

The rule is that her one true residence must be in the United States. The "welcome to the United States" letter that she received with the Green Card should have had the info, but it's also on Now That You Are a Permanent Resident page on the USCIS website.

Maintaining Permanent Residence You may lose your permanent residence status if you commit an act that makes you removable from the United States under the law in section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If you commit such an act, you may be brought before the immigration courts to determine your right to remain a Permanent Resident.

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:


* Move to another country intending to live there permanently.
* Remain outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.
* Remain outside of the US for more than two years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year.
* Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the US for any period.
* Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns.


So as soon as she moves to another country intending to live there permanently, she's given up the Green Card.

This has nothing to do with removal of conditions; the abandonment of status issue would be true whether or not the card was conditional.

The good news is that, by the time she does want to come to the US to live here permanently, it sounds like the marriage will be over two years old, so she'll be eligible for a green card with no conditions at that time. The bad news is that you've got to start all over with a new I-130, virtually equivalent to someone who had never filed immigration paperwork.

US Immigration law doesn't have a good solution for the spouse of a US Citizen who wants to come to the US occasionally but not live here permanently. She probably doesn't qualify for a visitor's visa, because her marriage constitutes ties to the US that imply immigrant intent. But she can't keep a Green Card for long unless she resides in the US. A legal solution is to apply for a new marriage-based visa each time she wants to visit, but that's costly, inconvenient, and time consuming.

Lucyrich,

The OP wrote that they are simply taking an extended vacation. I don't automatically conclude from that information that anyone is residing in Thailand. If the OP and his wife maintain strong ties to the USA and assert that the USA is their permanent residence, I think there's nothing to be overly stressed about.

Let me clarify that my wife is not residing in her home country, and has no plans to move there permanently. We are only taking an extended vacation and would like to know how long we can go. According to the letter we received at the AOS interview, we will have to file our paperwork for removal of conditions prior to January 8, 2009.

OK, I apologize. I was confused by the subject line, which seemed on the face of it to suggest she was "Not actually residing in the US".

Be sure you make it clear when you deal with the authorities that she is always residing in the US, and never residing anywhere else.

If she's gone more than six months, you may have to present evidence that she maintained her residence in the US during her absence. Things like the rent receipts, mortgage payments, tax bills, etc. for the US residence. Also, be aware that a six month absence will restart the waiting clock for citizenship, if she thinks that's in her future.

Search for "abandonment of status" for more info.

look in my signature - link on my story, i was out for total 19 months and i got actual card with RFE no interview

Sorry about the subject line. I can see how it would create some confusion about our situation.
thanks for your reply.

I could not find your story in your profile. You were actually out of the country for a total 19 months on a conditional GC?
What was the reason for not being here in the USA? It must have been a very good reason.
Mike