My wife is a 10-year GC holder. We lived in the US for 7 years before coming to Europe for an extended stay. She had no long stays outside the US prior to that - just a couple of holidays to Mexico. We've been gone 6 months, and plan on going back in another 2-3 months. We had a few reasons for the trip: we wanted to get away from the scary Covid situation in the US, because at the time Europe was doing much better. We also wanted to look for an investment property, which we've been thinking about for a long time - having a place back in Europe to rent out, and for holidays. But lockdown here sudden, long, and very strict, so we were basically just stuck in an apartment for 3 months. Now we want to have the trip we'd planned on having since that things are finally opening up.
Everything I see on official USCIS website etc. says she can be gone for up to one year, but beyond that should get a re-entry permit. So we didn't get her one. On other websites (lawyers and forums) a lot of people say it's only 6 months. I tend to believe USCIS, but what can we expect when we go back?
We're still married, and we still have the same address we've always had in the US, and will be going back to it. We'll be traveling together with our dog. We're both self-employed but online, so we have no "work" to return to. I do have family in the same town (including my elderly mother), though she doesn't.
Also, she applied for US citizenship last year but her appointment came up the same day as our flight to Europe, after we had booked and it was non-refundable. So we cancelled it and sent them a letter that she'd apply again later because she'd be away for a few months.
Based on all this, should we envision any problems going home? If so, what do we need to be prepared for and how should we handle it?
Thanks.
Kate_V
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10:25 pm June 1, 2021
