live abroad for 2 year

[natso 0]

hi all,

i just gained my gc and Im willing to apply for a re-entry permit
the reason is I got a job offer for a 2 year contract not in my country which is soo good to me plus my house in my home country got some serious damage due to flooding i'll need to be close and pay money for that

1-mentioning the reason for apply job offer is it a good or bad idea? bcz the gc is for live and work in America
2-I have to start my new job after 2 month.. and I saw it may take around 3 month… attaching the job offer and return ticket would that help to faster the process?
3-the duration between filling the I-131 form till biometric how long approximate it may take?
4-in case I did the biometric and I left US ...for some reason the reentry reject shall I come back immediately?
5-even though i’ll apply for the reentry.. but I’m willing to visit US continuously for couple of days… would that be a problem or its like the permit will be expire by the time I landed in us?

 

thank you,

[Nitas_man 3,100]

1 hour ago, natso said:

hi all,

i just gained my gc and Im willing to apply for a re-entry permit
the reason is I got a job offer for a 2 year contract not in my country which is soo good to me plus my house in my home country got some serious damage due to flooding i'll need to be close and pay money for that

1-mentioning the reason for apply job offer is it a good or bad idea? bcz the gc is for live and work in America
2-I have to start my new job after 2 month.. and I saw it may take around 3 month… attaching the job offer and return ticket would that help to faster the process?
3-the duration between filling the I-131 form till biometric how long approximate it may take?
4-in case I did the biometric and I left US ...for some reason the reentry reject shall I come back immediately?
5-even though i’ll apply for the reentry.. but I’m willing to visit US continuously for couple of days… would that be a problem or its like the permit will be expire by the time I landed in us?

 

thank you,

You can come and go during your time out of country.  It looks like a passport book just a different color.  When you enter hand over the book and the green card and they will pass you through.  The re-entry permit itself shows an intent not to abandon residence.  My recollection is that the application asks why you are going to be out of the country and job offer/temporary contract is a valid reason.  Won't raise any eyebrows.

 

Fingerprint fail - you will get a notice for a new appointment and you have to come back and re-take them.  That's a pain.

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

I know this isn’t what you’re asking, but are you really sure this contract is better than 2 years of work experience in the US if your long term goal is to live here? I mean if it’s really lucrative (like you can put down 50% on a house when you move here) or the experience will be a huge help finding a job that’s great but I’ve found before people seem to think some contracts are lucrative but that doesn’t turn out to be the case when they look at what they have left over in US$ terms to bring in at the end of them. Again - I have no idea what your circumstances are, and you certainly don’t need to respond or justify or whatever, just some thoughts for you to consider.

 

also just to check you are aware that you will still have to file with the IRS for every year you have a green card. Depending how much you earn and what the double tax treaty is or isn’t with the country you’re working in,you may or may not be liable to actually pay any tax,but you still have to file.

[natso 0]

2 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

I know this isn’t what you’re asking, but are you really sure this contract is better than 2 years of work experience in the US if your long term goal is to live here? I mean if it’s really lucrative (like you can put down 50% on a house when you move here) or the experience will be a huge help finding a job that’s great but I’ve found before people seem to think some contracts are lucrative but that doesn’t turn out to be the case when they look at what they have left over in US$ terms to bring in at the end of them. Again - I have no idea what your circumstances are, and you certainly don’t need to respond or justify or whatever, just some thoughts for you to consider.

 

also just to check you are aware that you will still have to file with the IRS for every year you have a green card. Depending how much you earn and what the double tax treaty is or isn’t with the country you’re working in,you may or may not be liable to actually pay any tax,but you still have to file.

the offer letter mentioned clearly its for 2 year , most probably i wont complete it once i make sure everything clearly fine for my family in my hometown, and yea i thought about what you said for the experience but u see in the last 8 month i've been trying hard through linkedin,monster,indeed but got no reply which make me scarred that if i moved now i might end up doing a lil paid job (im fine with that) but wont do nothing for that house. 

my designation is civil engineer and from what i read and my friends recommendations whos living and working there im gonna need to get some US degree or go to school to increase my chance in finding a job there, otherwise it will be very very difficult , thats y i've mentioned i'll visit continuously as im targeting to earn two degrees to help me once i come back to live there , even though if i didnt succeed it will be fine at least a pressure been taken out from my head even if i have to start from "minus"

 

and yea regarding the Tax im aware that i have to file them thats y im willing in my coming trip to pass by tax adviser to tell me what exactly should i do

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

It’s always difficult finding a job if you’re not physically present in the US. Yes some people do but that’s the minority.

 

re your degree, you can get an evaluation by WES and if it’s equivalent to a US civil eng degree that’s all you really need from that perspective. Depending on exactly what you do you may need some specific license or registration procedure as an engineer though, but I’m assuming you already looked into that too. 

 

Sadly, ironically, but good for people like you that with with all these hurricanes, floods, fires etc there’s probably gonna be plenty demand for civil engineers - and especially if they do go ahead with infrastructure rebuild anyway as the current administration has promised.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

8 hours ago, natso said:

the offer letter mentioned clearly its for 2 year , most probably i wont complete it once i make sure everything clearly fine for my family in my hometown, and yea i thought about what you said for the experience but u see in the last 8 month i've been trying hard through linkedin,monster,indeed but got no reply which make me scarred that if i moved now i might end up doing a lil paid job (im fine with that) but wont do nothing for that house. 

my designation is civil engineer and from what i read and my friends recommendations whos living and working there im gonna need to get some US degree or go to school to increase my chance in finding a job there, otherwise it will be very very difficult , thats y i've mentioned i'll visit continuously as im targeting to earn two degrees to help me once i come back to live there , even though if i didnt succeed it will be fine at least a pressure been taken out from my head even if i have to start from "minus"

 

and yea regarding the Tax im aware that i have to file them thats y im willing in my coming trip to pass by tax adviser to tell me what exactly should i do

Taxe are pretty easy, you can file them including the foreign earned income exemption on TurboTax.  It's best to print them and have a tax firm eyeball them before you file, to make sure that you didn't make any errors. 

 

Before you go you really need to be familiar with the tax rules.  Basically the foreign earned income exemption applies for any 300/364 days out of the country or if you are a legal resident in the country you are working in.  No real advantage if you qualify for neither.  Good luck!

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion

 

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

5 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

Taxe are pretty easy, you can file them including the foreign earned income exemption on TurboTax.  It's best to print them and have a tax firm eyeball them before you file, to make sure that you didn't make any errors. 

 

Before you go you really need to be familiar with the tax rules.  Basically the foreign earned income exemption applies for any 300/364 days out of the country or if you are a legal resident in the country you are working in.  No real advantage if you qualify for neither.  Good luck!

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion

 

The first year where you file part as non resident and part as resident afaik can’t be done via TurboTax.

you also don’t want to file as a non-resident of the US after you get your green card (unless I misunderstood your point about filing as a legal resident of somewhere else), this can lead to you losing your green card. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

10 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

The first year where you file part as non resident and part as resident afaik can’t be done via TurboTax.

you also don’t want to file as a non-resident of the US after you get your green card (unless I misunderstood your point about filing as a legal resident of somewhere else), this can lead to you losing your green card. 

Correction to earlier:. 330 days not 300

First and last years are tricky - but you can do it.  Takes a bit of manual manipulation.

You can file and pay taxes while choosing to be treated as a legal resident of the US for tax purpose and qualify for the exemption for legally working and residing in another country.  

The way to maintain the green card is avoid choosing being treated as a "non-resident for tax purposes".  I think you have to send a letter in anyway for something like that.

 

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

5 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

Correction to earlier:. 330 days not 300

First and last years are tricky - but you can do it.  Takes a bit of manual manipulation.

You can file and pay taxes while choosing to be treated as a legal resident of the US for tax purpose and qualify for the exemption for legally working and residing in another country.  

The way to maintain the green card is avoid choosing being treated as a "non-resident for tax purposes".  I think you have to send a letter in anyway for something like that.

 

Or you can pay a couple hundred dollars to a tax guy and be sure that it’s properly filled in rather than manual manipulation and “thinking” you have to send a letter in.... Quite frankly that’s the way I’d go, if the job is that lucrative the cost shouldn’t be an issue and I personally would want to be 100% sure I’m on the right side of both the IRS and USCIS during the process of holding a green card and hoping to naturalize in due course. 

 

Also there is no “last year” as part non resident unless you’re relinquishing your green card? The first year I referred to is when you get your green card part way through the year and you file dual return that year, non resident for the first part and resident from the date you get your green card.

Edited October 11, 2017 by SusieQQQ

[Nitas_man 3,100]

12 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Or you can pay a couple hundred dollars to a tax guy and be sure that it’s properly filled in rather than manual manipulation and “thinking” you have to send a letter in.... Quite frankly that’s the way I’d go, if the job is that lucrative the cost shouldn’t be an issue and I personally would want to be 100% sure I’m on the right side of both the IRS and USCIS during the process of holding a green card and hoping to naturalize in due course. 

 

Also there is no “last year” as part non resident unless you’re relinquishing your green card? The first year I referred to is when you get your green card part way through the year and you file dual return that year, non resident for the first part and resident from the date you get your green card.

Kindly don't be sarcastic.  This is my 8th year at this.  My returns get run through and match up with PWC every time.  This is not all that difficult. 

 

Def - First year:  The year of arrival.  Last year:  The year of return.  Always get your taxes checked for part years.  The 365-day window starts and extends sometimes beyond the tax filing date. 

 

This is being over-complicated.  The exact same rules that apply to US citizens apply to resident aliens.  Including the rules regarding foreign earned income.  To be treated as a non-resident alien for tax purposes you have to specifically declare that you want to.  Otherwise, you just file taxes as a resident alien no matter where you reside and in the course of filing those taxes calculate them exactly the same way a US citizen would calculate them.  Once calculated and filed, you have successfully "filed as resident alien for tax purposes".  Tax law and immigration law are two different things.  Immigration does not care where you are working as long as you maintain strong ties in the US (discussed to nausea on this board) AND you are holding a travel document which in itself is presumption of intent to maintain residency. 

 

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p519

Edited October 12, 2017 by Nitas_man

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

I wasn’t being sarcastic. I personally preferred to pay a professional to ensure I was on the right side of everything. YMMV.

[natso 0]

Hi Nitas_man,

 

i've just finish my biometric and i just want to know from ur experience..... can i travel now?

 

is there any other procedure i have to do before i book my ticket? would appreciate a quick advice from anyone because i have to book asap

 

thank you,