Clarifying Re-entry Permit Timeline for My Parents

[calberry 21]

I'm a US citizen and my parents got their green cards on 4Aug2023. I'm now trying to plan out my parents' re-entry permits since they need to go back to sell their home and business.

 

05May2025 - Form I-131 was received
30May2025 - Biometrics done in California
23Jul2025 - Parents went back home to sell their home and business

 

egov.uscis.gov/processing-times says 80% of re-entry permits are processed within 15 Months which is 01Sep2026. Since re-entry permits are valid for 2 years that should mean they can stay abroad till 01Sep2028 without abandoning their green cards.

 

It makes me nervous that 01Sep2026 is more than 12 months since they left the United States. Does this mean they should come back within 12 months of departure? Or can they safely stay abroad til 01Sep2028. Kind of a bummer that processing times for re-entry permits are more than 12 months when being abroad for more than 12 months seems to be when it is presumed that a LPR has abandoned their residency.

Edited 22 hours ago by calberry
added colors to dates

[OldUser 10,847]

How come it takes over 3 years to sell properties? They should come back as soon as they sell, hopefully it won't take 3 years.

Edited 19 hours ago by OldUser

[calberry 21]

6 hours ago, OldUser said:

How come it takes over 3 years to sell properties? They should come back as soon as they sell, hopefully it won't take 3 years.

 

It likely won't take 3 years. But there's a good chance it will take more than 12 months. I'm planning ahead and trying to get clarity on whether they can stay out of the country for more than 12 months after departure since they've applied for their re-entry permits.  It seems like the purpose of a re-entry permit is to allow LPRs to be abroad for more than 12 months but it also takes 15 months for a re-entry application to be processed so I'm trying to understand how this works.

[OldUser 10,847]

2 minutes ago, calberry said:

 

It likely won't take 3 years. But there's a good chance it will take more than 12 months. I'm planning ahead and trying to get clarity on whether they can stay out of the country for more than 12 months after departure since they've applied for their re-entry permits.  It seems like the purpose of a re-entry permit is to allow LPRs to be abroad for more than 12 months but it also takes 15 months for a re-entry application to be processed so I'm trying to understand how this works.

My understanding is, it does not protect from long absenses until approved. Would they keep ties to the US? What would be the ties?

[calberry 21]

17 minutes ago, OldUser said:

My understanding is, it does not protect from long absenses until approved.

 

So effectively an LPR cannot leave the country for more than 12 months until their re-entry permits are approved even though an LPR is permitted to leave once their biometrics for the re-entry permit are done. Maybe they should plan to come back within 12 months of departure then?

 

 

17 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Would they keep ties to the US? What would be the ties?

 

In the US they own a house, a car, a few rental properties, have friends and family, and pay all their state and federal and property taxes. They're also in the process of starting a business in California that manufactures dog chews. Not sure how UCSIS sees all this but to me it seems like strong ties.

 

Edited 11 hours ago by calberry
grammar

[OldUser 10,847]

18 minutes ago, calberry said:

 

So effectively an LPR cannot leave the country for more than 12 months until their re-entry permits are approved even though an LPR is permitted to leave once their biometrics for the re-entry permit are done.

Right, trips under 12 months are OK after biometrics are completed, but over 12 months - your mileage may vary. I'd visit the US at least once in those 12 months while they're waiting for reentry permit.

 

 

[calberry 21]

5 hours ago, OldUser said:

Right, trips under 12 months are OK after biometrics are completed, but over 12 months - your mileage may vary. I'd visit the US at least once in those 12 months while they're waiting for reentry permit.

 

Thank you for your suggestions and feedback. Unless someone knows something I haven't thought of, we'll plan for my parents to be back within 12 months of departure, i.e. 20 July 2026. If their re-entry permits get approved by then (it will have been 14 months since they applied) they can cancel/postpone their flights if they want.