Length of travel after receiving green card

[Lemonslice 4,790]

6 hours ago, lovinglive said:

Thanks, that's very clear and helpful.  In my wife's case, she has been in the US now nearly a year, but most of that was on her visa.  It's only been about 4 months since we applied for AOS.  So in your view, in that case, would the N +1 consecutive days more be applied to the total length of time she has been here in the US, or just the time since we applied for AOS?    

So, you applied for AOS four months ago, and received her green card three months ago? That is crazy fast!

 

 

23 hours ago, lovinglive said:

My wife received her green card about a month ago, and it's been a long time since she's seen her family, so we are looking at traveling outside the US for a while.  We are considering like three months.

 

I've seen some discussions on here previously about how long someone can stay outside the country while they are a permanent resident.  I seem to remember that people say that you should be in the US for 6 months out of 12.

 

Can forum members confirm this?  Is it 6 months out of a calendar year or 6 months out of a consecutive 12 month period?  We don't want to take chances at this point.  I'm also not sure if the fact that her green card was recently granted makes any difference.

 

Thank you in advance for your information.  

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by Lemonslice

[lovinglive 24]

On 11/14/2022 at 1:09 PM, Mike E said:

correct 

Correct.  Modern re-entry permits are both multiple  entry and come in a passport book form factor. 
 

Since you will be moving for employment, I advise her to return to the USA every 179 days so that her N-400 is clean.  

Great, thank you for the additional information.  When you say that she should return to the US, every 179 days, is there a specific length of time that you recommend?  What do you mean by a clean N-400?

 

[lovinglive 24]

On 11/14/2022 at 2:05 PM, OldUser said:

Eligibility for 3 year rule:

- she spent enough time in the US (18 months) at the time of filing N-400

- wasn't out of the country for over 6 months

- still married to you. And you guys lived together in the past 3 years at the time of fiiling and until oath ceremony

- hasn't commited any crimes

- paid taxes all these years jointly

- passed naturalization test

 

Then when she applies, it can take 6-18 months go through the process to actually naturalize.

 

 

 

 

 

Great, that's very helpful.  I will save that list of criteria.  

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, lovinglive said:

Great, thank you for the additional information.  When you say that she should return to the US, every 179 days, is there a specific length of time that you recommend?

179 days.  
 

Quote

 

What do you mean by a clean N-400?

 

In N-400, the form  asks about any trips 6 months or longer. 179 days is less than 6 months.  

Edited November 15, 2022 by Mike E

[lovinglive 24]

19 hours ago, Mike E said:

179 days.  
 

In N-400, the form  asks about any trips 6 months or longer. 179 days is less than 6 months.  

Hi, thanks again for sharing your knowledge.  I guess my question wasn't clear enough.  What I meant was, once she has returned before 179 days, is there a specific length of time that my wife should remain in the US?  Or is even like a week sufficient?

 

That makes sense about the N-400. Good to know. 

 

This is all very hypothetical at this point, but I agree that the re-entry permit is a good idea with the only drawback being the $575 price tag. 

[lovinglive 24]

On 11/14/2022 at 5:25 PM, Lemonslice said:

So, you applied for AOS four months ago, and received her green card three months ago? That is crazy fast!

 

 

 

Yeah it was crazy fast!  I am still trying to figure out how that happened.

 

By the way, I don't really get why some users on here put the "confused" emoji on other people's posts.  If we all had al the answers and knew everything, there would probably be no reason to ask questions on here.

[Lemonslice 4,790]

1 hour ago, lovinglive said:

Yeah it was crazy fast!  I am still trying to figure out how that happened.

 

By the way, I don't really get why some users on here put the "confused" emoji on other people's posts.  If we all had al the answers and knew everything, there would probably be no reason to ask questions on here.

Filing your timeline might have helped clear some of the confusion. 

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=410005

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Lemonslice

[OldUser 6,452]

@lovinglive Green Card is for living in the US. It is not designed to be used as a visa for occasional travel to the US.

[lovinglive 24]

20 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

Filing your timeline might have helped clear some of the confusion. 

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=410005

 

OK, well our full timeline is in my signature. 

[lovinglive 24]

8 minutes ago, OldUser said:

@lovinglive Green Card is for living in the US. It is not designed to be used as a visa for occasional travel to the US.

Yes, I believe someone has said that already.

 

I don't want to get into a long discussion about this now, (way off topic) but the system doesn't work very well for US citizens that have foreign spouses and live overseas.  And there are more people in this situation than you would think!

Edited November 16, 2022 by lovinglive

[Mike E 11,739]

9 minutes ago, lovinglive said:

OK, well our full timeline is in my signature. 

I still haven’t figured how how to see other signatures when using a mobile phone. 

[OldUser 6,452]

@lovinglive the solution to your situation is to get your wife naturalized in the US. Then you guys can live wherever you want and have option to travel to the US any time. Green card alone is not the solution. At some point your wife may be questioned whether she abandoned her permanent residency. If she spends most of the time overseas, her husband also lives overseas and there are no other significant ties such as real estate, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, job, kids in the US, it wouldn't be hard to prove she abandoned her LPR status.

[lovinglive 24]

2 minutes ago, OldUser said:

@lovinglive the solution to your situation is to get your wife naturalized in the US. Then you guys can live wherever you want and have option to travel to the US any time. Green card alone is not the solution. At some point your wife may be questioned whether she abandoned her permanent residency. If she spends most of the time overseas, her husband also lives overseas and there are no other significant ties such as real estate, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, job, kids in the US, it wouldn't be hard to prove she abandoned her LPR status.

Hi Old User, yeah I had this discussion with some forum members back in June, I think.  I don't think you were online at that time.  Basically they also said a solution is for my wife to become a US citizen.  

 

We'll have to go through the process at some point and now may be the time.  Or it could be a little later.  We'll have to see.  

 

By the way, do you think studying at a US university, even if it an online course, would be considered a tie to the US?

 

And as you mentioned "it wouldn't be hard to prove...", who would be doing the proving and under what circumstances?

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, lovinglive said:

Hi, thanks again for sharing your knowledge.  I guess my question wasn't clear enough.  What I meant was, once she has returned before 179 days, is there a specific length of time that my wife should remain in the US?

covered at length in one of my previous comments: 

 

If you follow the math in that comment, then after being abroad for 179 consecutive days, she should stay in the U.S. for 180 consecutive days before leaving again.  If she has a re-entry permit she can can immediately get back on a flight abroad.  
 

2 hours ago, lovinglive said:

 

That makes sense about the N-400. Good to know. 

 

This is all very hypothetical at this point, but I agree that the re-entry permit is a good idea with the only drawback being the $575 price tag. 

It seems like a green card is too inconvenient for her now. I-407 should be considered. 

[lovinglive 24]

7 minutes ago, Mike E said:

 

 

If she has a re-entry permit she can can immediately get back on a flight abroad.  
 

 

Sarcastic remarks aside, thanks for the reply about returning abroad if she has a re-entry permit.