ChefB123

3 hours ago, Linalina said:

No, my case is with California and it will be probably another 3-4 months, total of at least 16-18 months waiting. So, right now I have expired green card and expired letter and still no stamp in passport. You do not need to file for reentry. I contacted embasssy and they said you do not need to get reentry if you have extension letter and have been outside US less than a year. It only applies to those who’s been outside more than a year and who have no valid proof of residency. 

The only time I had little problem is when I was at the check-in to go back to states and operator didn’t know what date of expiration to put for gc, I told her to add one more year to what is written on card. 

Incredibly helpful and makes me a bit more hopeful that we could stay out of country longer than the 90 days our lawyer suggested.  My wife just got her i797 yesterday and still waiting biometrics, but we're told it's an 11-13 month wait from USCIS's receipt, which was about 10 days ago...  anyway...Thank you!  gonna take it slow and let things unfold before committing to a longer trip.  Thanks again!

8 minutes ago, Linalina said:

I just came back to states 2 days ago, I did my biometrics in January and left US for ELEVEN months, cake back the day before letter “expired” and officer didn’t ask me ANY questions, neither did he really look at my letter, so 6,5 months is not so long and you shouldn’t worry about that.

Hey Linalina, 

Did your gc come back approved while you were away and you used the letter to come back or are you still waiting? Did you file for a reentry permit? 

Thanks! 

Yeah...that's exactly what I asked them to clarify because AP seemed extreme.  So, you think re-entry is all we need for a 90-day trip?  Any idea if it is good for multiple entries?

Hi WeGuyGal,

That's good to know.  We spent 3 months overseas this year and no issues at all upon return.  Not to say that behind closed doors some agent's eyebrow wasn't raised.  I dunno.

Wife's lawyer suggested that we get advanced parole for anything over 90 days and that up to 180 days should be fine w/ AP.  But the price is steep.  And I'm not sure that AP is so easy to get.  Need to look into that.  Mother-in-law had early-stage cancer that might qualify my wife for AP...not sure.

In any case, I was beginning to think that 2x 90-day trips are less alarming...but you raise a good point around frequency.  Although, it does seem to reduce risk since it provides more time for the GC to clear.  So fi the GC is approved before the 2nd 90-day trip, then it doesn't matter.

Hmm....will have to think about it more.

Thanks again for your input!

Thanks Viajero.

But I was under the impression that there was some kind of form we could submit that basically says she is not abandoning her permanent residency.  And I wonder if that would be acceptable and remove any concern by the adjudication officer.

I guess the short answer is yeah...less than 6 mo's would be fine.  Any idea if they count 6 months as 180 days or do they say that if you leave on 6 Dec, then you gotta be back before 6 June?  Think we would still get grief for being gone 179 days?

Thanks again!

Thanks for all the info...it's helpful.  So here's a quandary for you...would be really interested if anyone has had experience with this situation. 

My wife just filed for removal of conditions on her GC.  I'm hopeful it's all done before May 2018...making all of this moot...but we have grand plans to travel next year and would like to get things booked.  If we leave the US in early May 2018, and if the approval of the ROC has not come back...then, how long can she be out of the country?  I know that the extension letter should arrive soon, and even with the expired green card...she can still travel.  But I'm concerned that under the conditional GC w/ the extension, she can only be out of the country for a certain amount of time.  if we were traveling out of the US for 6 and a half months, then do we need to file for some sort of exception that allows her to be overseas for that long (regardless of whether she is approved or not for the new GC)?