Advance Parole and minimum stay requirements

[Scottb 0]

Hello everyone. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate this place, the great advice and support of the wonderful members here, and the loads of hard work the operators must have put into creating such a well put-together and helpful web site.

I've been living in Cambodia with my fiancee while maintaining a home in California for the past 4 years. I work 6 months per year in Cambodia and 6 months per year in the US, which means long periods away from my fiancee and our two-and-a-half year old son.

After receiving her visa (still waiting for NOA2 --GRRR!), we plan to reside in the US, but ideally only half of the time. I'll still need to spend at least 6 months of each year working in Cambodia and I'd like my wife to accompany me while I'm there. I understand my wife will need to apply for Advance Parole before leaving the US with me after our marriage, but I'm not clear if there isn't some sort of minimum time per year that she must spend in the US before receiving her green card. For some reason I have it in my head that we have to spend at least 6 months per year State-side, but I don't remember where I read this and now I can't find any reference to this requirement.

Is there some set minimum time that she must spend living in the US? If so, I hope it's not too severe, as we've already spent more than enough time apart because of my work and I'd hate to think that I'll still have to endure time away from her and our child when I do my work in Cambodia while she sits in California due to some minimum residency requirements.

Her having the ability to live in Cambodia for 5 or 6 months per year while I work there is all I ask. Is this possible, or should I find a new job that keeps me in the US 365 days per year?

Thanks

[Mononoke28 134]

She needs to reside in the US; however, she is allowed to be outside of the country for about 6 months or so. The Immigration officers at POE may give her a hard time coming back if they see that she's been doing this for a while but as long as it's justifiable she'll be ok.

She only needs to apply for AP before she leaves the US if she's planning to stay overseas for more than 12 months. The AP will allow her to stay outside of the US for up to two years.

The best thing is to try to get her US citizenship if she wishes, that way she can stay outside of the US as long as she wants and come back without any issues.

Diana

Edited July 24, 2008 by Mononoke28

[Scottb 0]

Thanks Diana!

Another question: You said She only needs to apply for AP before she leaves the US if she's planning to stay overseas for more than 12 months.

It sounds like you're saying AP is required for more than 12 months overseas, but that it is not necessary at all if we plan to go outside the US for just 6 months at a time.

I think I need to get better informed, as it seems I've been completely off the track on this whole issue. Do you have a link to a page that can help me to clear up any of my misperceptions?

According to the K1 FAQs:

5. Immediately after marriage, you must apply for an Adjustment of Status, Form I-485, to become a permanent resident. You may also apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) to work (required until your I-485 is approved) and "advance parole" in case you want to travel outside the United States and re-enter before getting your green card (I-485 approval).

I'm under the Impression that I-485 (green card application) takes a couple of years to obtain approval and my hope is that we can spend time overseas before obtaining the green card. At this point in time, we don't even have our NOA-2 for the I-29F petition for a K1 visa, so a green card feels like it's a long way off.

So I think I'm clear that we can travel a reasonable amount before the green-card is issued, but I'm confused now about the AP. My intreptretation of the FAQ above is that we'll need to apply for the AP every time we travel outside the US before a green card is obtained.

Thanks again

Scott

She needs to reside in the US; however, she is allowed to be outside of the country for about 6 months or so. The Immigration officers at POE may give her a hard time coming back if they see that she's been doing this for a while but as long as it's justifiable she'll be ok.

She only needs to apply for AP before she leaves the US if she's planning to stay overseas for more than 12 months. The AP will allow her to stay outside of the US for up to two years.

The best thing is to try to get her US citizenship if she wishes, that way she can stay outside of the US as long as she wants and come back without any issues.

Diana

[Minya's wife 24]

There are two types of Advanced Parole...one is the AP you request while your Adjustment of Status papers are being processed, and that allows you to re-enter the US without abandoning your AOS. (Otherwise if you leave without having a greencard, you are considered as having abandoned the process.)

Then there is the Advance Parole that a permanent resident requests, if he/she would like to reside outside the US for longer than 6 months as it is a requirement to maintaining residency that you physically live in the US for at least 6 months out of 12.

I'm not sure what to tellyou regarding your case....once your fiancee enters on the K1, which I see is the visa you're pursuing, you will have to marry and immediately apply for AOS and hope that the green-card is granted before you must leave again for work in Cambodia. Otherwise, I would not advise your wife to leave for an extended period of time, as the pre-AOS Advance Parole is only intended for short 'emergency' trips outside the country...not to go reside somewhere else for any longer period of time.

May I ask, if your life is such that you live 6 months here/6 months there, and have a child, why didn't you just marry in her home country, and apply for an immigrant (IR/CR-1) visa? That would make your wife a resident upon entereing the US, and not subject to as many restrictions.

-P

[Scottb 0]

May I ask, if your life is such that you live 6 months here/6 months there, and have a child, why didn't you just marry in her home country, and apply for an immigrant (IR/CR-1) visa? That would make your wife a resident upon entereing the US, and not subject to as many restrictions.

-P

Sure

We had no intention of ever residing in the US before our son was born. We'd had religious ceremonies for both our engagement and wedding, but no official marriage license or engagement permits because our shyster Cambodian lawyer provided fake documents (and for 3 time the going rate).

My employer has been promising me a full-time posting in Cambodia for years, but it looks like that's not going to happen either, so we've decided to stay together while I work and for that we need to get my fiancee's("wife's") visa and the K1 seemed like the fastest route.

Before anyone shouts FRAUD because I was married but am applying for a fiancee visa, know that, because of our poor choice in legal representation, in the eyes of the Cambodian government, we are not married and that our ceremonies were spiritual but do not constitute a legal marriage.

Because of the amount of fraud from marriage brokers and legal representatives who help to process paperwork, Cambodia currently has a ban in place against it's citizens marrying foreigners ( http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/200...TOKEN=74434520), so an official marriage is not possible now anyways, until we reach US shores.

[crs 0]

Can you get married in another country and file for IR1CR1 from there?