How long are you allowed out of the states with a GC?

[sara80 17]

Hi all Vjers,

I have got an hypothetical question that is making me think recently.

My fiance and I are in the process of a K1 and I am about to graduate this year with an ordinary BSc. I was talking to my tutor and she suggested to take a one year study suspension instead in case I want to rethink about coming back and do my honours year.

I was wondering, taken that we get approved and I manage to go to the states around september/october this year and get the AOS approved, etc. would I be able to come back to the UK next year 2013 temporarily to attend school? The term dates would be mid sept/mid december and mid january/end april with another 15days in june.

I am not even sure I want to do an extra year, but I might have to if my ordinary degree is not recognised in the states (still need to look into this).

Would it be legally doable being out of the USA with a 2year GC considering that I could go back to the states for xmas and easter holidays?

Many thanks to who can enlighten me on this!

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

***** Moving from K1 to Travelling During US Immigration forum ****

You should be ok, because you'll only be out just over 6 months total, with two "breaks" back in the USA. Make sure you have some evidence you reside in the US (cell phone, drivers license. bills in joint name) and there won't be any trouble.

[Krikit 1,163]

Many Permanent Residents leave the US to attend school out-of-country. It's perfectly legal. You may want to do a post search for the member Gary and Alla. He has a son who did this.

[JoannaV 173]

How will this work as far as financing goes, won't she be an international student??

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

How will this work as far as financing goes, won't she be an international student??

She'll still be a UK citizen, so I would think not. That will be up to the college to decide though.

[JoannaV 173]

She'll still be a UK citizen, so I would think not. That will be up to the college to decide though.

Citizenship is only relevant to a certain extent, residency is more important. But I don't know if there is a different rule if you move abroad after starting your degree though. Perhaps you can get away with it if you apply for funding before moving abroad.

[sara80 17]

that's a good question! I am actually italian, been living in Scotland for the past 5 years. I got my tuition fees paid from SAAS for the last 3years I have been in university. As far as I could see, residency doesn't really exist here in UK. Or, at least is seen in a much different way as in Italy. When I started my course I was "officially" still resident in Italy, but I was obviously living in the UK.

I wonder if I am going to take that route, I don't know at the moment!, if there will be any complication if I was to state my address to be in the UK.

I recollect reading somewhere sometime ago, that you are considered european, study-wise, if you haven't lived outside of europe for more than 5 years. I'd need to google it and see I can find it somewhere..

Thank you VJers for your help!

[himher 634]

We pulled off an 11-month out of country stay but we got scrutinized when we got back LOL. We left 3 weeks later and returned 5 months after that without a hitch.

As long as you show you have a residence/ties to the US you should be OK. Stay out longer than 6 months and they note it in your passport (for citizenship purposes probably)

Get a travel document and your question becomes a non-issue. You can stay out of country for up to 2 years. We didnt do that LOL

Hi all Vjers,

I have got an hypothetical question that is making me think recently.

My fiance and I are in the process of a K1 and I am about to graduate this year with an ordinary BSc. I was talking to my tutor and she suggested to take a one year study suspension instead in case I want to rethink about coming back and do my honours year.

I was wondering, taken that we get approved and I manage to go to the states around september/october this year and get the AOS approved, etc. would I be able to come back to the UK next year 2013 temporarily to attend school? The term dates would be mid sept/mid december and mid january/end april with another 15days in june.

I am not even sure I want to do an extra year, but I might have to if my ordinary degree is not recognised in the states (still need to look into this).

Would it be legally doable being out of the USA with a 2year GC considering that I could go back to the states for xmas and easter holidays?

Many thanks to who can enlighten me on this!

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

The issue here is two fold. Yes, you can stay out of the U.S. for up to a year but only under the following two conditions:

1) You need to maintain your U.S. residency. That means you live in the U.S., your spouse lives in the U.S., you have a U.S. driver's license, pay your U.S. taxes, have an apartment or house in the U.S., a car in the driveway, U.S. insurances, and so on.

2) You cannot establish residency in the U.K. So if you study in the U.K. as an international student, that would be okay. If you need to be a resident, then that can be a deadly blow to your U.S. residency. There are Canadians with a Green Card who reestablished residency in Canada in order to obtain health care benefits or to study, and that is an absolute no-no.

[sara80 17]

The issue here is two fold. Yes, you can stay out of the U.S. for up to a year but only under the following two conditions:

1) You need to maintain your U.S. residency. That means you live in the U.S., your spouse lives in the U.S., you have a U.S. driver's license, pay your U.S. taxes, have an apartment or house in the U.S., a car in the driveway, U.S. insurances, and so on.

2) You cannot establish residency in the U.K. So if you study in the U.K. as an international student, that would be okay. If you need to be a resident, then that can be a deadly blow to your U.S. residency. There are Canadians with a Green Card who reestablished residency in Canada in order to obtain health care benefits or to study, and that is an absolute no-no.

I guess I won't risk it. If I decide to go into further studies I will be looking for something in the states. I just hope that my ordinary degree will be recognised as such in the States, as I had been told by my university. Hope they are right! Thank you for your answers.