How long will my wife's greencard be good for?

[CitizenJ 5]

My wife received her GC in April of 2015. Her and I stayed in America until August of 2017 (2 years and 4 months) before traveling back to her home country of China where we've been ever since (11 months). If we return to America now, will it be a problem? Will they revoke her GC? Do we absolutely have to get her a return permit before heading back to America? Thanks.

[Illiria 980]

How long was the green card valid for? How long had you been married when she was granted it?

[mrmvkjts 459]

Was it a Conditional 2 year greencard?

If it was for 2 years and you didn’t even remove conditions, then well, sorry but there is nothing you can do but reapply for a viasa for her

Or was it valid for 10 years?

If it was a 10 year one, you should have gotten a permit BEFORE, that allows your wife to stay abroad for up to 365 days but not longer

Otherwise it’s considered abandoned and you have to go thru a visaprocess again!

 

as far as my knowledge is....

Edited July 2, 2018 by mrmvkjts

[mushroomspore 3,043]

Well, her GC should have an expiration date listed right on there.

 

Even if it's still valid, staying out of the US for more than 6 months puts her at risk of abandoning her permanent resident status. Staying out of the US for a year or more pretty much guarantees it.

[Roel 7,191]

27 minutes ago, CitizenJ said:

My wife received her GC in April of 2015. Her and I stayed in America until August of 2017 (2 years and 4 months) before traveling back to her home country of China where we've been ever since (11 months). If we return to America now, will it be a problem? Will they revoke her GC? Do we absolutely have to get her a return permit before heading back to America? Thanks.

If that was a 2 year green card and you never applied for a 10 year card .. then well,  it's time to starting filing for a spouse visa again.

 

Also re-entry permits (I assume that's what you meant by a return permit) are suppose to be obtained BEFORE you leave US.

 

And of course it might be a problem. What made you think she can even stay outside of the US for so long without risking her residency?

[CitizenJ 5]

Thanks for the responses guys. It's a 10 year GC. We had been married for 3 years when she received it. We're going to return to America within the next month so she won't have been out of the country for more than 365 days. 

 

So it sounds like:

Out of the country for less than 6 months: no problem

Out of the country for more than 1 year: definite problem

Out of the country for more than 6 months but less than 1 year: may be a problem...?

 

Is that right? 

 

 

So if my wife returns to America right now, is there a chance that they'll bar her entry and make her return to her home country to get an America visa? 

Edited July 2, 2018 by CitizenJ

[Crazy Cat 39,278]

Best case scenario, imo-  She will be grilled at POE and she needs to have some good answers to justify her US residence.

Worst case scenario-  She is sent before an immigration judge who will determine if she has abandoned her US residence.

 

That assumes, she has an unexpired Green Card.  If her Green Card has expired, she will automatically get sent before a judge.

[CarlHamilton 252]

She'll have some 'splaining to do at the point of entry. 

[Crazy Cat 39,278]

2 minutes ago, CitizenJ said:

Thanks for the responses guys. It's a 10 year GC. We had been married for 3 years when she received it. We're going to return to America within the next month so she won't have been out of the country for more than 365 days. 

 

So it sounds like:

Out of the country for less than 6 months: no problem

Out of the country for more than 1 year: definite problem

Out of the country for more than 6 months but less than 1 year: may be a problem...?

 

Is that right? 

Correct.  I would be prepared to answer some tough questions at POE.  Green Cards are for LIVING in the US, not visiting.

[StoneChild 5]

Ok head back ASAP like today or tomorrow drop everything and come right back NOW.

She'll be fine  just head back. You guys should already be applying to remove the conditions!!!

COME BACK NOW!

Edited July 2, 2018 by StoneChild

[mushroomspore 3,043]

2 minutes ago, StoneChild said:

Ok head back ASAP like today or tomorrow drop everything and come right back NOW. You guys should already be applying to remove the conditions!!!

COME BACK NOW!

OP said his wife has a 10-year GC so no need for removal.

 

But the fact she has been out of the US for almost a year is not good. They will definitely get grilled by CBP.

Edited July 2, 2018 by mushroomspore

[Eric-Pris 1,602]

3 minutes ago, StoneChild said:

Ok head back ASAP like today or tomorrow drop everything and come right back NOW. You guys should already be applying to remove the conditions!!!

COME BACK NOW!

There are no conditions to remove on a 10-yr green card, I'm assuming you missed that post.

[geowrian 22,335]

7 minutes ago, CitizenJ said:

So it sounds like:

Out of the country for less than 6 months: no problem

Out of the country for more than 1 year: definite problem

Out of the country for more than 6 months but less than 1 year: may be a problem...?

 

Is that right?

In an overgeneralized way, yes.

They could determine that she abandoned residence in less than 6 months based upon the facts (i.e. her ties maintained to the US, did she claim residence elsewhere or take benefits abroad that require residence, etc.).

They could determine that she did not abandon residence even after a year abroad. Again, it's based on the totality of the circumstances. This does have a legal requirement of presumption that residence was abandoned, though...which can be hard to overcome.

 

7 minutes ago, CitizenJ said:

So if my wife returns to America right now, is there a chance that they'll bar her entry and make her return to her home country to get an America visa? 

There's a chance she will be admitted.

There's a chance she will be paroled and the case referred to an immigration judge to make a final determination. This could come with or without detainment.

 

My money would be on if she returns before the 1 year mark, she would be questioned and warned not to do it again, but ultimately admitted.

[StoneChild 5]

OK well then if the GC is 10 years she'll be fine gone for a year just bring proof as to why you where there business, health or whatever your argument is, just don't lie.

[CitizenJ 5]

13 minutes ago, missileman said:

Best case scenario, imo-  She will be grilled at POE and she needs to have some good answers to justify her US residence.

Worst case scenario-  She is sent before an immigration judge who will determine if she has abandoned her US residence.

 

That assumes, she has an unexpired Green Card.  If her Green Card has expired, she will automatically get sent before a judge.

 

To be totally honest, she's recently decided that she'd no longer like to pursue citizenship. We realize that we'll have to cancel her GC eventually but since we've been planning on returning to America for the past month and she's only decided in the past week that she'd like to stop pursuing citizenship, we'd like to just go ahead and use her GC to return to America (since we don't want to start a visa process at this point). In a worst case scenario, if they cancelled her GC upon her return, they'd make her return to her country to get a visa, correct?

 

EDIT: We've been planning to return to America in the middle of July and she's just, in the past couple of days, decided that she'd like to stop pursuing citizenship. I don't even think we'd have time to apply for a visa for her.

Edited July 2, 2018 by CitizenJ