Re-entry permit

[proudtobabritgirl 126]

For situations out of my control I'm going to need to travel back to the UK twice this year (march and June) I may even need to come back a further two times at the end of this year.  I moved her in November and I am a permanent resident / greencard holder. I have already traveled back once. I'm not sure if I should get a response entry permit. I'm only staying out of the country for a week at a time. The last time I came back into the states in January, the customs guy was really rude to me and questioned why I left so soon after moving here. 

Like I said, it's situations out of my control that I didn't forsee, when I first moved here. Not sure whether to just go back on those two trips when I need too, or just apply for a re-entry permit and stay in England for six months whilst I sort everything out. I don't want to seem like I'm abusing my greencard. I have a job here and extremely understanding employers who have allowed me to make the trips back. So I have ties here. 

[millefleur 5,035]

Do you have a conditional green card (CR-1)?

[proudtobabritgirl 126]

12 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Do you have a conditional green card (CR-1)?

Yeah! 

I didn't mean to write response permit. Damn autocorrect. Haha. 

[Ontarkie 13,916]

~~Moved to Working and Traveling. from Moving Here and Your New Life - As the OP is asking about re entry permit.~~

[Wuozopo 4,285]

1 hour ago, proudtobabritgirl said:

For situations out of my control I'm going to need to travel back to the UK twice this year (march and June) I may even need to come back a further two times at the end of this year.  I moved her in November and I am a permanent resident / greencard holder. I have already traveled back once. I'm not sure if I should get a response entry permit. I'm only staying out of the country for a week at a time. The last time I came back into the states in January, the customs guy was really rude to me and questioned why I left so soon after moving here. 

Like I said, it's situations out of my control that I didn't forsee, when I first moved here. Not sure whether to just go back on those two trips when I need too, or just apply for a re-entry permit and stay in England for six months whilst I sort everything out. I don't want to seem like I'm abusing my greencard. I have a job here and extremely understanding employers who have allowed me to make the trips back. So I have ties here. 

Short trips like yours are fine. I would offer a tip for when you apply for US citizenship. The form will ask you to list all trip dates outside the US. THat is only because if in your three years, you were gone like half that time, you would not get to count those days as part of the requirement for being a PR for three years. Short trips don't really affect that. But you might want to start a list so you will remember the dates when the time comes to fill out the form. 

 

From the USCIS website:

Does travel outside the United States affect my permanent resident status?

Permanent residents are free to travel outside the United States, and temporary or brief travel usually does not affect your permanent resident status. If it is determined, however, that you did not intend to make the United States your permanent home, you will be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status.  A general guide used is whether you have been absent from the United States for more than a year. Abandonment may be found to occur in trips of less than a year where it is believed you did not intend to make the United States your permanent residence.  While brief trips abroad generally are not problematic, the officer may consider criteria such as whether your intention was to visit abroad only temporarily, whether you maintained U.S. family and community ties, maintained U.S employment, filed U.S. income taxes as a resident, or otherwise established your intention to return to the United States as your permanent home. Other factors that may be considered include whether you maintained a U.S. mailing address, kept U.S. bank accounts and a valid U.S. driver’s license, own property or run a business in the United States, or any other evidence that supports the temporary nature of your absence.

[Just Paul 4,591]

There is no issue for short trips.  If you were going to be, or could be, out of the US for a year you would need the re-entry permit.

 

Do keep a log of your overseas travel.  The flight records don't always match up for immigration  so it is good to keep a separate record.  We keep a spreadsheet   because we use a land crossing to Mexico once a month for a day or so. 

 

Plenty of records entering the US but zero leaving the US.

[proudtobabritgirl 126]

Ok thanks for your responses. 

I just wandered if the cbp officer actually had reason to question me about it as much as he did. I made the mistake of rolling my eyes at him and saying "I don't need this right now" maybe I antagonised him. 

I have taken a screenshot from the website saying that I can make multiple trips for short periods of time so I can show them next time if they question me.