Green Card !!

[M.A.C 1]

hi, I've received my 10 years green card ..... I qualify for nationality after 5 years - my question is, out of these 5 years how much time should I be spending in the USA so that after 5 years I would be able to apply for US nationality ?? I'm planning to move back to my country and to come to USA in between ..... Someone told me that I need to come after every 6 months, but I do not know how long the stay should be after 6 months ??

[Myopia 93]

hi, I've received my 10 years green card ..... I qualify for nationality after 5 years - my question is, out of these 5 years how much time should I be spending in the USA so that after 5 years I would be able to apply for US nationality ?? I'm planning to move back to my country and to come to USA in between ..... Someone told me that I need to come after every 6 months, but I do not know how long the stay should be after 6 months ??

This is what the majority will say to you :

The green card isnt supposed to be used as a visa. If you have a Green card then you are supposed to be residing in the US. If you are planning on moving back to your country then you arent a permament resident. You will have to spend proper time in the US. That means actually living and filing taxes as a LPR.

As I understand it, you cant leave the US for more than six months without permission or you will risk losing your LPR status. None the less you have to spend the majority of each year in the US.

When it is time to naturalize you will be asked about time spent in the US and time spent out.

Maybe you will have to rethink the green card.

Edited February 21, 2011 by Myopia

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

If you want to spend a few weeks of vacation every year in Pakistan, that's not a problem. If you plan on living in Pakistan and in the US, your Green Card will not last long. Custom and Border Protection agents have grown increasingly inpatient with being "played" by Green Card holders who abuse their privilege.

The idea of US citizenship is to reward long time permanent residents who lived in the US for years and made the US their home, with citizenship of the country they love so much. It's not a reward for people who use the Green Card as a visitor's visa, hoping to get away with circumventing the system. I can almost promise you that in the computer age we live in, you will need to really reside in the US until filing for naturalization. In the N-400 application, you'll have to list any and all absences from the US since the day you became a resident, to the day. If you have absences of 6 months or more, the Immigration Officer will not be kind to you when you sit in the hot chair asking to become an American, while having lived in Pakistan.

If Pakistan is where your heart is and where you reside, US citizenship may not be what you're looking for.

[ceadsearc 515]

I believe (though I am not certain) that it's not a certain amount of time, it is the fact that you need to prove that you are living in the US, maintaining residency here, etc. If you are living in your home country and only coming to America to visit, you are probably going to run into trouble regardless. Once you become a US citizen you can come and go as you please, but as a green card holder the US must be your primary home.

Edited February 21, 2011 by ceadsearc

[M.A.C 1]

Thanks for your replies guys .... I'll think about my priorities in a different way now .... Ofcourse I do not want to use my greencard as a visit visa !!