10 year green card - now what?

[beacher 0]

Hi everyone!

I'd be so thankful for your help.

My husband now has his 10 year green card. We are living outside the US at this time.

Main question is: how often does he need to come in? Does he need to travel to the US once a year? twice? never?

also, what is my next step now to secure his permanent residence?

All help is greatly appreciated!

--Beacher

[Hypnos 6,576]

A green card is for a person who wishes to live and work in the United States. If you are living outside the United States (with no plans to return) - and you are not abroad on military service - then you are not in compliance with the responsibilities of being a green card holder (top of the list being you have to actually live in the country).

Depending on how long your husband has been present outside of the United States then his green card may already have been invalidated. Green card holders can usually travel overseas up to six months (continuously) without issue. Between six and twelve months it gets more tricky, and CBP would probably want to see proof that you have maintained a domicile in the United States (mortgage payments, lease agreement for a home, maintained a US bank account, etc.). Trips that will be over 1 year but less than 2 years require you to have a re-entry permit (obtained by filing an I-131 before leaving) in order to even be able to apply to be re-admitted to the United States, and you would of course need to prove once more that you have maintained a domicile here with every intention of returning. Trips over two years and your green card has likely already been automatically voided.

In short, when you are spending the majority of your time outside of the United States on a regular basis then you will run into problems. It may not be the first time you try, or even the second, but at some point a CBP officer is going to notice that you are spending more of your time outside the country than inside, and this could result in penalties up to and including the cancellation of his green card.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Hypnos

[Penguin_ie 5,985]

*** Moving from AOS to Travelling during Immigration forum ****

[grrrrreat 109]

A green card is for a person who wishes to live and work in the United States. If you are living outside the United States (with no plans to return) - and you are not abroad on military service - then you are not in compliance with the responsibilities of being a green card holder (top of the list being you have to actually live in the country).

Depending on how long your husband has been present outside of the United States then his green card may already have been invalidated. Green card holders can usually travel overseas up to six months (continuously) without issue. Between six and twelve months it gets more tricky, and CBP would probably want to see proof that you have maintained a domicile in the United States (mortgage payments, lease agreement for a home, maintained a US bank account, etc.). Trips that will be over 1 year but less than 2 years require you to have a re-entry permit (obtained by filing an I-131 before leaving) in order to even be able to apply to be re-admitted to the United States, and you would of course need to prove once more that you have maintained a domicile here with every intention of returning. Trips over two years and your green card has likely already been automatically voided.

In short, when you are spending the majority of your time outside of the United States on a regular basis then you will run into problems. It may not be the first time you try, or even the second, but at some point a CBP officer is going to notice that you are spending more of your time outside the country than inside, and this could result in penalties up to and including the cancellation of his green card.

Yup I agree! Here is the USCIS page regarding being outside the U.S. as a permanent resident: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=0c353a4107083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=0c353a4107083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

I am a lawyer and this is the #1 way people lose their permanent resident card.

I'll add that to even get a reentry permit, you have to prove U.S. domicile. You can't just assume you'l get it and stay protected.

Edited June 28, 2012 by grrrrreat

[beacher 0]

Thanks for your replies. Thing is, we have an apt and a bank acct in the US; just now, we are living abroad.

Is there a difference between the first green card and the 10 year one in terms of how often we need to travel to the US?

[Penguin_ie 5,985]

N o difference (other than with the 2 year, you need to be there for ROC). Having a bank account etc can help for the first couple of entries, but as mentioned above, the greencard is to LIVE in the USA, not travel there occasionally.

[grrrrreat 109]

Thanks for your replies. Thing is, we have an apt and a bank acct in the US; just now, we are living abroad.

Is there a difference between the first green card and the 10 year one in terms of how often we need to travel to the US?

If you've made your permanent home outside of the U.S., you've abandoned your permanent resident status. This is the rule--there's no "how often we need to travel to the US" and it doesn't matter whether you have a 10-year card or not.

Eventually you will be denied entry and asked to surrender your Green Card.

[jjjdddlll 4]

I had this same question. We are not avoiding living in the US, it is just taking us longer than expected to make the move. We will have spent about 6-12 months outside the US since the first entry (when the Visa in the passport was the only thing we had).