Can we travel and live out of the US?

[t-rae 1]

My husband just got approved for his green card - yay! However, we are a a very travel-loving couple and we like to live and travel abroad. We met in China (he is from Ireland) and we are getting ready to go on another long-term travel, hopefully for a year. 

 

I know that it is tricky being out of the US with a green card for even 6 months without people thinking you are surrendering it. 

 

Our tentative plan is to travel for a year starting this July. After that year we will either move abroad so I can teach at an international school  or come back to the US so he can get his full teaching certification as well. We don't have any intention of NEVER coming back to the US, especially considering that I am a citizen, but we would like to continue to live the life we love. 

 

What are our best options here? Will he really have to return every 6 or 12 months in order to keep his status? We really do not want to have to go through this process all over again later.  

 

Help? 

[TL2016 208]

A green card is used to live in the US,  not to use it as a travel visa. 

A temporary solution is to apply for a reentry permit, which allows a LPR to be outside of the USA for up to 2 years. But if you plan to travel for longer than that or plan to establish residency somewhere else other than the US, consider surrendering the green card and apply for the appropriate visa when the time is right.

[Roel 7,192]

Even with coming back every few months or year or so, they might just as well take the green card away and tell you to apply for the tourist visa if you don't want to live in the US.

Not sure why people would risk it like that after going through the long and expensive process of getting a green card.

 

How about just wait couple of years until he can apply for the citizenship. As a citizen, he can be out of the US as much as he wants.

[Unlockable 7,315]

The only way you can pull that plan off and not worry about having any problems maintaining your husband's permanent resident status is to wait until he becomes a US citizen. Then he can leave the country as long as he likes.

 

But as others have said he will be at risk of losing his green card. Residing in the United States is one of the requirements. That it is literal named Permanent RESIDENT.

[KierenHby 899]

3 hours ago, t-rae said:

My husband just got approved for his green card - yay! However, we are a a very travel-loving couple and we like to live and travel abroad. We met in China (he is from Ireland) and we are getting ready to go on another long-term travel, hopefully for a year. 

 

I know that it is tricky being out of the US with a green card for even 6 months without people thinking you are surrendering it. 

 

Our tentative plan is to travel for a year starting this July. After that year we will either move abroad so I can teach at an international school  or come back to the US so he can get his full teaching certification as well. We don't have any intention of NEVER coming back to the US, especially considering that I am a citizen, but we would like to continue to live the life we love. 

 

What are our best options here? Will he really have to return every 6 or 12 months in order to keep his status? We really do not want to have to go through this process all over again later.  

 

Help? 

Come again.. why'd he chose to become a US permanent resident?

[t-rae 1]

20 hours ago, Roel said:

Even with coming back every few months or year or so, they might just as well take the green card away and tell you to apply for the tourist visa if you don't want to live in the US.

Not sure why people would risk it like that after going through the long and expensive process of getting a green card.

 

How about just wait couple of years until he can apply for the citizenship. As a citizen, he can be out of the US as much as he wants.

 

He already has dual citizenship with Ireland and the Netherlands and does not want American citizenship. He would have to give up his Dutch citizenship and does not want to do that. Citizenship is not an option for us. 

[Roel 7,192]

3 minutes ago, t-rae said:

Citizenship is not an option for us. 

Then living outside of the US is also not an option for you. Best for you to do is have him give the green card away, spend all the time you want in other countries and apply again once you really to settle down in the US.

 

If you proceed with your plan, he will lose the green card either way.

[t-rae 1]

16 hours ago, KierenHby said:

Come again.. why'd he chose to become a US permanent resident?

Yes, this does seem dumb. However, we were going on information that we were told EVERYWHERE - by lawyers and here on visajourney, along with experienced friends and acquaintances - that doing it was the best thing for our situation. 

 

We were living in china and wanted to come to the US so I could get teacher certification. We were already engaged and were told that we would not be able to live together as a married couple in the US for 2 years without him having residency. If he came on the visa waiver program and left every 90 days he still wouldn't be able to legally work or drive, and it would be considered visa fraud. In the end it took a year for him to get his employment authorization anyway, and it was miserable. 

 

Essentially, we wanted to do things the legal way that would allow us to, you know, be together and live and work like a normal couple. 

 

Hindsight is 20-20, though, and this whole process has been more stress, hassle, and expense than it has been worth right now. 

[t-rae 1]

1 minute ago, Roel said:

Then living outside of the US is also not an option for you. Best for you to do is have him give the green card away, spend all the time you want in other countries and apply again once you really to settle down in the US.

 

If you proceed with your plan, he will lose the green card either way.

 

But we may come back after a year of travel. We can apply for the re-entry permit with the intention of being gone for one year. We may have to come back and work for a bit. It's just too hard to say right now. 

 

But either way, it looks like we'll lose it, and I'm pissed. Now is not the time for a rant, but boy could I go on about the disaster of US immigration...

 

In any case, if we wanted to come back for just a year after losing the green card, what visa would he come on? If we only plan on being here in the US for a year, what would allow us to just be here? He most likely won't have a job set up before we come, so I don't know if a work visa would be the thing. Any ideas? 

[Roel 7,192]

If you're married than it would be a spouse visa... Takes about a year to process. But again, if you're going to leave again after a year of living in the US, what's the point?

He'd risk losing the green card again.

 

Tourist visa wouldn't be good for you in that situation, since there is a clear intent to live in the US and I assume he'd have no real ties to his country at that point...

Your plan won't work in a long run. Might have to convince him to stay in the US for few years, get the citizenship and then travel as much as you want.

 

 

 

[t-rae 1]

1 minute ago, Roel said:

If you're married than it would be a spouse visa... Takes about a year to process. But again, if you're going to leave again after a year of living in the US, what's the point?

He'd risk losing the green card again.

 

Tourist visa wouldn't be good for you in that situation, since there is a clear intent to live in the US and I assume he'd have no real ties to his country at that point...

Your plan won't work in a long run. Might have to convince him to stay in the US for few years, get the citizenship and then travel as much as you want.

 

 

 

 

I don't think I could convince MYSELF to live in the US for a few more years. 

 

I figured it would be a spouse visa, but there'd be no point to doing the green card all over again if we KNOW we won't be there for long. So there's basically no options. We either live here until he gets citizenship (which is a moot point, because he won't) or never come back here, which doesn't sound so bad at this point, but I'm from here and I'd like the option to be here. 

[geowrian 22,337]

1 hour ago, t-rae said:

I don't think I could convince MYSELF to live in the US for a few more years. 

 

I figured it would be a spouse visa, but there'd be no point to doing the green card all over again if we KNOW we won't be there for long. So there's basically no options. We either live here until he gets citizenship (which is a moot point, because he won't) or never come back here, which doesn't sound so bad at this point, but I'm from here and I'd like the option to be here. 

Unfortunately, what you're asking for just doesn't exist. There isn't a US visa or other status to live in the US whenever you feel like it (other than citizenship). Either you visit as a tourist (which is duration-limited and only available to those who don't intend to immigrate, and does not permit work), or you become a permanent resident and actually live in the US.

 

A re-entry permit lets you leave for up to 2 years with the presumption of not abandoning residency. If you actually do plan to abandon US residency, then that's not really an option for you. If you just want to work overseas for a year or so, then it may apply. Despite the advice you've been given previously, a green card is not to be used for visiting the US.

 

Immigration is a privilege. While some countries do have more flexible options (i.e. working holiday visas and such), the US certainly isn't alone here.

[Eric-Pris 1,607]

2 hours ago, t-rae said:

Yes, this does seem dumb. However, we were going on information that we were told EVERYWHERE - by lawyers and here on visajourney, along with experienced friends and acquaintances - that doing it was the best thing for our situation. 

Sorry, but I doubt everybody on VJ told you that your plan could be executed with a green card. 

 

Lawyers, I can see actually giving this kind of false info.  There are some horrible lawyers that don't really know the law, especially specialized things like immigration.

 

Tip: Don't listen to friends and acquaintances about immigration issues.  I have clients come to me with tax problems and it always begins the exact same way, "My friend who knows about taxes told me..." 

Edited April 3, 2017 by Eric-Pris

[geowrian 22,337]

8 minutes ago, Eric-Pris said:

Sorry, but I doubt everybody on VJ told you that your plan could be executed with a green card. 

 

Lawyers, I can see actually giving this kind of false info.  There are some horrible lawyers that don't really know the law, especially specialized things like immigration.

 

Tip: Don't listen to friends and acquaintances about immigration issues.  I have clients come to me with tax problems and it always begins the exact same way, "My friend who knows about taxes told me..." 

If that was the case, I couldn't find it in the history here.

 

^This. Even people who do actually know something about immigration processes generally only know as much as it pertained to a specific person's circumstances. No 2 cases are identical, and the specifics do matter in many cases.