180 day rule

[dragonmike 1]

Hi,

Perhaps someone was in a similar situation and can help us here.

My wife will enter the US soon with her CR1 VISA.

From what I know, it'll take up to 6 weeks to get her greencard.

Once she gets her greencard, she is planning to return to her homeland because she has personal things to take care of.

I understand that there is a 180-day rule, where one risks LPR abandonment without justification.  

If she returns to the US within 180 days and stays with me for some time, can she leave the US after a couple months?

Does this 180-day rule apply per trip or for some period of time like Schengen VISA rules?

 

Thanks

 

[aaron2020 11,651]

She can apply for a Re-Entry Permit.

That would allow her to stay outside the US for up to 2 years without abandoning her green card status.  

Once she enters the US, her immigrant visa upon endorsement by CBP will serve as a temporary green card expiring one year from her entry.  She can use this to leave and return to the US.  It can take 3 months or more to get the plastic green card in some cases.  

 

Since she is staying for 6 weeks, she can apply for the Re-Entry Permit.  She will need to have her biometrics done before she leaves the US.  The Re-Entry Permit can be sent to the US Embassy/Consulate in her country.  

[Ontarkie 13,917]

~~Moved to Working and Traveling, from Ir1/CR1 P&P - as the question  is about traveling after entry on the visa~~

[dragonmike 1]

On 10/19/2021 at 10:50 PM, aaron2020 said:

She can apply for a Re-Entry Permit.

That would allow her to stay outside the US for up to 2 years without abandoning her green card status.  

Once she enters the US, her immigrant visa upon endorsement by CBP will serve as a temporary green card expiring one year from her entry.  She can use this to leave and return to the US.  It can take 3 months or more to get the plastic green card in some cases.  

 

Since she is staying for 6 weeks, she can apply for the Re-Entry Permit.  She will need to have her biometrics done before she leaves the US.  The Re-Entry Permit can be sent to the US Embassy/Consulate in her country.  

 

We had considered this, but we weren't sure if it would be worth it.

Hypothetically speaking, if we chose not to get a re-entry permit, can she go abroad for 5 months, come back for a couple weeks, and then go abroad for 5 more months?

Thanks

 

[aaron2020 11,651]

2 hours ago, dragonmike said:

 

We had considered this, but we weren't sure if it would be worth it.

Hypothetically speaking, if we chose not to get a re-entry permit, can she go abroad for 5 months, come back for a couple weeks, and then go abroad for 5 more months?

Thanks

 

Sure, but CBP can look at a whole travel history.  It is worth it to get a Re-Entry Permit if she will be traveling like that. 

[Just Paul 4,591]

On 10/19/2021 at 12:39 PM, dragonmike said:

From what I know, it'll take up to 6 weeks to get her greencard.

It can take 2 weeks to almost a year. There is no rhyme or reason.

On 10/19/2021 at 12:39 PM, dragonmike said:

I understand that there is a 180-day rule, where one risks LPR abandonment without justification.

What 180 day rule?  Technically after a year it is considered abandoned.  She can stay out more than 180 days. She needs to not do anything to jeopardize her LPR status.  

On 10/19/2021 at 12:39 PM, dragonmike said:

If she returns to the US within 180 days and stays with me for some time, can she leave the US after a couple months?

Yes, she can come and go but again she needs to be residing the the US a majority of the time to be a resident.  If she is considering citizenship then you should familiarize yourself with "continuous residence".

CBP can question her is she in out 3 months, back a month, then leaves for 3 months.

[dragonmike 1]

On 10/22/2021 at 2:11 AM, Paul & Mary said:

It can take 2 weeks to almost a year. There is no rhyme or reason.

What 180 day rule?  Technically after a year it is considered abandoned.  She can stay out more than 180 days. She needs to not do anything to jeopardize her LPR status.  

Yes, she can come and go but again she needs to be residing the the US a majority of the time to be a resident.  If she is considering citizenship then you should familiarize yourself with "continuous residence".

CBP can question her is she in out 3 months, back a month, then leaves for 3 months.

 

Thanks again.

The 180-day rule that I'm referring to is in this other blog - https://www.stilt.com/blog/2020/07/can-i-stay-more-than-6-months-outside-the-u-s-with-a-green-card/#What_is_the_6Month_Rule

and after reading that, I'm even more confused as he states " just being outside of the U.S. for less than 180 days in a year doesn’t automatically mean the CBP official won’t scrutinize your travels. If the CBP official believes your stay outside of the U.S. was not temporary, they can still conclude that you’ve abandoned your LPR status.".

Is that true?  I recall an immigration lawyer telling me that the CBP officer does not have that power and the only thing they can do is pass your case off to an immigration judge, which I guess is just as threatening.  I don't think they'd have a case as she is married to me (a US citizen), and we have property and no intention of abandoning residency... although I don't want to be presumptuous.  Due to the digital nomad nature of my job, we were planning on going back and forth, but wanted to understand the rules a bit first.

 

I understand that we could get a reentry permit, but I keep hearing that we don't need it if our absence is for sure going to be under a year, but then I read that there can still be problems.  Just to be clear, each trip will be under 180 days.  Is it really just up to the mood of the CBP officer and whether they believe your story about being abroad "temporarily"? 

 

I understand that to get US citizenship, continuous residence is important and that no trip can exceed 180 days and the total amount of time in a 5yr period (or I guess 3yr for marriage) must add up to more than half the time or something like that.  We will keep this in mind. 

 

 

[Boiler 43,450]

Quite common for new immigrants to need to go back and close out affairs.