Renewing 10 year green card

[LucidSofia 59]

Hey,

I have a quesiton regarding the 10 year green card one gets after removal of conditions.. can I just keep renewing it everytime I reach the 10 years.. or is it only valid for those 10 years? I dont want to lose citizenship from my country (I would have to give it up if I gain citizenship from a new country), so I would rather not become a US citizen, even though I plan on living there forever. Is this an option? What are the cons of doing this?

Thanks,

Sofi

P.S, I´m a Swedish citizen, but I live in Spain.

[Nana098 18]

Yes, you can renewing it every 10 years, the process to renew is easy.

[LucidSofia 59]

Yes, you can renewing it every 10 years, the process to renew is easy.

Great, thanks!

[LucidSofia 59]

Just found out that I actually can keep my swedish citizenship.. apparently the law changed in 2001 (in Sweden). Yay

[B & G 200]

You will not lose your Swedish citizenship if you apply and receive US citizenship, since Sweden has allowed dual citizenship since 2001.

When you take your oath in the US, it does say "entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen" but that just means that the US will no longer recognise any other passport you own other than you US one.

I have plenty of family and friends that have dual citizenship, US - Greek and they have no issues with either contry.

I neither have a problem as i hold dual citizenship. Australian - Greek. You just use the respective passport as the respective country.

[nwctzn 55]

A very common misconception is that your permanent residency expires when your card expires. That is false. Only the card expires every 10 years and not your status. The card has to be renewed though for travel purposes or for verification purposes if you change your job for example. It is like a driver's license renewal but costlier

Your status remains always as permanent resident unless you abandon your residency (by moving permanently out of the US for example), your status is revoked because of problems with the law, or if you become a US citizen.

You said you are a Swedish citizen living in Spain and you are holding a US Permanent Resident Card. Be sure that you meet the continuous residence and physical presence requirements (as outlined on the USCIS website) if you think about applying for US citizenship.

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Edited December 19, 2012 by nwctzn

[bigdog 377]

A very common misconception is that your permanent residency expires when your card expires. That is false. Only the card expires every 10 years and not your status. The card has to be renewed though for travel purposes or for verification purposes if you change your job for example. It is like a driver's license renewal but costlier

Your status remains always as permanent resident unless you abandon your residency (by moving permanently out of the US for example), your status is revoked because of problems with the law, or if you become a US citizen.

You said you are a Swedish citizen living in Spain and you are holding a US Permanent Resident Card. Be sure that you meet the continuous residence and physical presence requirements (as outlined on the USCIS website) if you think about applying for US citizenship.

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You're biggest problem might be living outside the US, check your time allowed out of the country at USCIS.

[nwctzn 55]

Good point! During your green card renewal or if you apply for citizenship, USCIS might see a red flag if you moved to Spain permanently and if you took a job there for example. Those would be indicators that you abandoned your US permanent residency.

Are you maintaining your ties to the US (like paying taxes, having bank accounts, lease/mortgage payments)? And if you live in Spain for an extended time without coming back to the US for more than a year, do you have a re-entry permit?

Edited December 19, 2012 by nwctzn

[bigdog 377]

Good point! During your green card renewal or if you apply for citizenship, USCIS might see a red flag if you moved to Spain permanently and if you took a job there for example. Those would be indicators that you abandoned your US permanent residency.

Are you maintaining your ties to the US (like paying taxes, having bank accounts, lease/mortgage payments)? And if you live in Spain for an extended time without coming back to the US for more than a year, do you have a re-entry permit?

:thumbs:yep.

[NickD 203]

In regards to dual naturalization like the DOS loves to call it, they in an agreement with my wife's home country are forcing her to maintain dual citizenship. She cannot visit her family unless she has her home countries passport.

She took her oath very seriously with the USCIS, but no longer dealing with the USCIS, now dealing with the DOS that has a completely different outlook on what you can or cannot do.

One thing they won't let you do is get a US passport unless you are a US citizen. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, all depends on what kind of drugs they are serving at the next consulate meetings.

Guess it also depends upon what's important to you, in my wife's case, as a LPR, was taxed to death just like anyone else, but had no say in how that money was spent, that disturbed her.

In regards to traveling really, in particular for my stepdaughter, far better off to have a US passport than her home countries passport, that one required a hard to get visa to go anywhere. But gather you must have a Euro passport that I have heard is just as good as a US pasaport or even better.

You have to consider what is best for your own personal interest, this varies highly depending on which country you came from.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Hey,

I have a quesiton regarding the 10 year green card one gets after removal of conditions.. can I just keep renewing it everytime I reach the 10 years.. or is it only valid for those 10 years? I dont want to lose citizenship from my country (I would have to give it up if I gain citizenship from a new country), so I would rather not become a US citizen, even though I plan on living there forever. Is this an option? What are the cons of doing this?

Thanks,

Sofi

P.S, I´m a Swedish citizen, but I live in Spain.

You can renew your Green Card to the tune of $450 every time you lose it or it expires until the day you die.

But why would you not want to naturalize? I'm a Swedish, a German, and a US citizen, and I don't see why you should be exempted from keeping your Swedish citizenship when becoming an American.

[LucidSofia 59]

You can renew your Green Card to the tune of $450 every time you lose it or it expires until the day you die.

But why would you not want to naturalize? I'm a Swedish, a German, and a US citizen, and I don't see why you should be exempted from keeping your Swedish citizenship when becoming an American.

Thank you for your answer Yes, I posted my question before I found out that the law changed in Sweden so that one can mantain dual citizenship, so that´s good news!

I also want to thank everyone else that answered, your replies have been very helpfull. I am actually not a permanent resident yet, I will be moving to the U.S after I get my CR1 visa (we're not even married yet!), so I was getting WAAY ahead of myself on the citizenship question.. I had just heard from my dad that if I ever got citizenship in the U.S I would lose the Swedish one, and I wanted to see what my options were down the line if I decided to stay in the U.S without citizenship. Now, based on what I know, I will definitely be applying for U.S citizenship when the time comes!

[breadedVirus 0]

A very common misconception is that your permanent residency expires when your card expires. That is false. Only the card expires every 10 years and not your status. The card has to be renewed though for travel purposes or for verification purposes if you change your job for example. It is like a driver's license renewal but costlier

Your status remains always as permanent resident unless you abandon your residency (by moving permanently out of the US for example), your status is revoked because of problems with the law, or if you become a US citizen.

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Don't mean to question you, but where did you find this out? I always thought that once your resident card expires you are not a LPR.

[nwctzn 55]

Don't mean to question you, but where did you find this out? I always thought that once your resident card expires you are not a LPR.

Here is one pointer from a law firm: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/green-card-renewal-lawyers.html

In summary, it says: "While green cards do have expiration dates, a person’s Lawful Permanent Resident status does not expire unless the person violates immigration laws or voluntarily renounces LPR status. The actual, physical green card simply provides documentation and proof of your lawful permanent resident status. However, carrying an expired green card will make it difficult to prove your LPR status, and could affect your ability to enjoy the rights associated with LPR status."

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Don't mean to question you, but where did you find this out? I always thought that once your resident card expires you are not a LPR.

It's like having a passport to your home country. Just because your passport expires does not mean you lose the citizenship of your country. The greencard is just ID to prove your status. As long as you don't abandon your status by remaining out for too long, or have your status revoked because you did something bad, then your status is forever.