I-751 evidence advice

[louati13 5]

Hello everyone! We will be filing the I-751 in early 2015 and I'm worried about not having enough evidence.

Basically we have been living abroad the past 1.5 years. My husband got his GC last year and he came for a visit in June. He couldn't stay because he still had our apartment to take care of and some business to wrap up. Once I finished with work, I went over to visit him in France in August. About a month later we found out I was pregnant. I was diagnosed as "high risk" so therefore, we had to stay until the baby was born. Now that our daughter is a few months old, we plan on moving back to the states in the Fall.

My worry is that we will be staying with my parents for the first few months while we both look for jobs, so we won't have an apt lease or any bills in our names.

All we have (in the US) is a joint bank account/credit card but as we have been abroad we haven't been using them.

I have plenty of evidence from France with both of our names (apartment lease, bills, bank accounts, healthcare, etc).

I plan on sending the US bank account statements, my 2012 & 2013 tax returns, sworn affidavits from my parents, pictures of us, and of course the birth certificate of our daughter, along with a letter explaining why we have been living abroad. It doesn't seem like much to me though.

Should I send our evidence from France along with a translation? I'm not sure if they are looking more for proof of a bona fide marriage or presence in the US.

Hopefully we will get jobs and have out apartment but I don't know if only a few months worth of bank statements, bills, etc will be enough and if they truly want the full 2 years.

Any advice for our situation? Thanks!

[louati13 5]

Bump

[funkymunky 11]

We have a similar situation with regards to house and insurance etc. Hubs left Navy, I was pregnant and moved in with his mom so I would have help, after she was born we moved back to Aus for 7 months so I could see my family and now we are back and looking for a place to rent. I just sent as much prove that we lived at the same addresses, bank statements, leases from our old addresses, affidavits, personally cards from hubs to me and from his side of fam, photos, his mil id card and my dependant ID, taxes etc.

[louati13 5]

Thanks for the response! I think we will just send what we have and if I get a RFE for more proof then I'll send in our French papers (which would be a pain in the butt to translate but I'll do it, lol).

[Satellite 1]

Once someone gets a GC, they are supposed to live in the U.S. for at least 6 months every year, if not their green card expires.

Where are you getting such information? The issue at hand is abandonment of a green card. There is nothing in the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act and FAM (Foreign Affairs Manual) that states you must be present in the US 6 months out of every year or else your green card expires. As long as the actual green card hasn't expired you can theoretically check in for one day and be gone for the other 364 days. Likewise, you can be gone for one day and be considered to have abandoned your status, although I have never heard of such cases.

You can get very detailed information this works at:

https://cliniclegal.org/sites/default/files/Abandonment%20of%20LPR%20Status.pdf

USCIS states on their website:

http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence

Abandoning Permanent Resident Status

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:

• Move to another country intending to live there permanently
• Remain outside of the United States for more than 1 year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However, in determining whether your status has been abandoned, any length of absence from the United States may be considered, even if less than 1 year
• Remain outside of the United States for more than 2 years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However, in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the United States may be considered, even if less than 1 year
• Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the United States for any period
• Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns

[funkymunky 11]

Final decision is up to the immigration officer at the border. When I arrived back, I was asked to explain why I had been away so long. I just said we were on a working holiday, my hubby was on a WHV. I guess he deemed ok since I had not left in over 2 yrs.

Whilst my Canadian friend had hers revoked at border crossing, she hadn't even been gone as long.

Edited July 12, 2014 by funkymunky