Live and work abroad on conditional PR and taxes

[dkal12 0]

Hello everyone,

I would like some advise on our situation. I recently moved from Dubai to the US on a K1 visa, married my USC husband and now waiting on my AOS, EAD and AP. My husband has decided to accept an offer in Dubai from a non-US company to work on a project of 5 years at least. I have a couple of questions that I want to be absolutely sure of before we make the decision to move..

1. Can I leave before my AOS has been approved? Or can I leave as soon as I have recieved my AP document?

2. What steps will I need to take to make sure I maintain my GC status - travel every 6 months back? or travel once a year?

3. If I choose to work in Dubai, will I have to file my taxes as a resident? (hence separately from my husband since he will be filling non-resident taxes). Will this affect us when we file to remove the conditions on my permanent residency.

It just seems to me that it will be a lot of hassle - but we are willing to work as long as we remain in status with the USCIS and IRS!

Thank you!

[meijie 9]

If you leave before AOS is approved, it will be considered abandoned.

If you are going to live in Dubai for more than 5 years, it probably makes more sense to abandon the application and reapply for PR again when you actually plan to reside permanently in the USA.

Hello everyone,

I would like some advise on our situation. I recently moved from Dubai to the US on a K1 visa, married my USC husband and now waiting on my AOS, EAD and AP. My husband has decided to accept an offer in Dubai from a non-US company to work on a project of 5 years at least. I have a couple of questions that I want to be absolutely sure of before we make the decision to move..

1. Can I leave before my AOS has been approved? Or can I leave as soon as I have recieved my AP document?

2. What steps will I need to take to make sure I maintain my GC status - travel every 6 months back? or travel once a year?

3. If I choose to work in Dubai, will I have to file my taxes as a resident? (hence separately from my husband since he will be filling non-resident taxes). Will this affect us when we file to remove the conditions on my permanent residency.

It just seems to me that it will be a lot of hassle - but we are willing to work as long as we remain in status with the USCIS and IRS!

Thank you!

[love2win 1]

I have the same problem, but I have my green card already and I will be able apply for naturalization in December of next year but I will be staring school in London for a year, i will be leaving the us in September of 2011 and. Will be back in December after 4 mints to start the applications then leave in january then come back for the biometrics interview etc... My family will remain in the us whole I study abroad for 12 months.

Sorry for being a party popper but we kinda in the boat.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

The way you describe your situation, there is really no way to maintain residence. Even if you were trying to circumvent US immigration law by using your Green Card as a tourist visa, it will not work for several years as they now have machines called computers. Also, in 2 years you and your husband together would have to remove conditions of your residency at which time you and your husband will have to show that you two lived together IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. That's outright impossible to do if you live on another continent.

Hence, AP or no AP, it makes no difference at all.

[JoannaV 174]

Cheaper to just abandon your PR. Applying for an IR1 before your husband's job ends in Dubai will be much cheaper than attempting to fly back to the US all the time. (Especially as the latter won't work for 5 years.)

[SimranS 9]

The way you describe your situation, there is really no way to maintain residence. Even if you were trying to circumvent US immigration law by using your Green Card as a tourist visa, it will not work for several years as they now have machines called computers. Also, in 2 years you and your husband together would have to remove conditions of your residency at which time you and your husband will have to show that you two lived together IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. That's outright impossible to do if you live on another continent.

Hence, AP or no AP, it makes no difference at all.

Can you please be more specific- there is no immigration check at exit from the US, so how will they have all your departures recorded in their computer. They normally (though not always) ask you when you return how long you were gone, but even this is only a verbal Q & A which is clearly not recorded anywhere.

[JoannaV 174]

Can you please be more specific- there is no immigration check at exit from the US, so how will they have all your departures recorded in their computer. They normally (though not always) ask you when you return how long you were gone, but even this is only a verbal Q & A which is clearly not recorded anywhere.

They have passenger manifests with passport information which may or may not eventually be centralised and looked at.

Sometimes the officer may make no notes, but other times they do. When I came back form my first trip abroad with my green card I received a stamp in my passport and he wrote my alien number and "2 weeks in UK".

If on any one of your trips the officer becomes suspicious they can make sure that the next time you enter you are examined thoroughly.

It really would be cheaper to just reapply for IR1 rather than make multiple trips to the US.

[SimranS 9]

They have passenger manifests with passport information which may or may not eventually be centralised and looked at.

Sometimes the officer may make no notes, but other times they do. When I came back form my first trip abroad with my green card I received a stamp in my passport and he wrote my alien number and "2 weeks in UK".

If on any one of your trips the officer becomes suspicious they can make sure that the next time you enter you are examined thoroughly.

It really would be cheaper to just reapply for IR1 rather than make multiple trips to the US.

Ya they occasionally note your length of stay outside the US in your passport but not in their own computer. The next time you entered the new IO may not even see the previous stamps/notes unless they scrutinized every page of your passport. And if you get a new passport before the next time you enter they wouldn't have any info, would they? According to the CBP website, you are technically not even required to present your passport for reentry to the US, only your green card (although they do recommend bringing the passport along anyway).

For these people it would be cheaper to reapply for an IR1. But there are plenty of people who have been able to maintain their residency for many years with trips back to the US, it depends on your luck (and intelligence in dealing with IOs to some extent).

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Let's say you get super lucky and are able to pull this off for almost 2 years. How will you list your absences from the US on your I-751 application and how will you produce documents that proof that you and your husband lived and worked in the US? I'd say, the buck stops at R.O.C. I actually think it will stop earlier, but I don't see how you can fake the whole ROC process.

[SimranS 9]

Let's say you get super lucky and are able to pull this off for almost 2 years. How will you list your absences from the US on your I-751 application and how will you produce documents that proof that you and your husband lived and worked in the US? I'd say, the buck stops at R.O.C. I actually think it will stop earlier, but I don't see how you can fake the whole ROC process.

VJ member "HimHer" was in the same position. They were living in another country when it came time for ROC, and returned just for the ROC biometrics. They even told the officer at POE that they were there just for ROC, and had no problem entering.

The point of ROC is to show that their marriage is genuine, not just for the GC. If they have joint American bank accounts, joint property, photos together and other evidence, that's all they'd need to remove conditions.

[HeatDeath 431]

I have the same problem, but I have my green card already and I will be able apply for naturalization in December of next year but I will be staring school in London for a year, i will be leaving the us in September of 2011 and. Will be back in December after 4 mints to start the applications then leave in january then come back for the biometrics interview etc... My family will remain in the us whole I study abroad for 12 months.

Sorry for being a party popper but we kinda in the boat.

Unlike the OP, you should be able to maintain your PR status quite easily. Just file for a reentry permit before you leave. It allows you to be out of the US for up to two years with no interruption to your PR status. It formally establishes your intent to maintain your PR status and reestablish a US residence at the end of an absence of up to two years. If you naturalize during the absence you might even be able, technically, to get away without it, if your naturalization is granted prior to September 2012, but I think it might be worth it anyways, just in case of unforeseen difficulties or changes of circumstances.

The OP is planning to be gone, OTOH, for 5 years plus, with only occasional returns. That's too long for a reentry permit to work around.

[HeatDeath 431]

OP: I agree with what others have said above. At this point it will be the cheapest and easiest to simply abandon your current AOS process [be sure to notify USCIS in writing that that is what you are doing], and plan to apply for a spousal visa when you eventually do plan to return to the US. That way you won't have to worry about US taxes, or Removal of Conditions, or flying all over the world to try to repeatedly fool CBP into thinking you're maintaining a US residence, when you are not. 5 years is a long time to play that game, and they'll catch on sooner or later. When they do your GC will be revoked, and you may even get a ban for misrepresentation if you played the game particularly badly. Best to be totally straightforward and honest with them, and abandon the GC application now, and apply again (this time for a spousal visa which gets a GC automatically with no additional AOS process) in 5 years. That GC will be a 10 year GC, because you'll have been married more than 2 years at that point, so it will save you from having to do Removal of Conditions at all.

Edited October 12, 2010 by HeatDeath