minimum stay in US to keep GC

Henning Schreiber

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Dec 8, 2000, 10:16:48 AM12/8/00

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Hi,

We have an enquiry in relation to how much time we have to spend in the
US to guarantee that we will keep our green card.

We will re-enter the US in May with a re-entry permit after having been
overseas for 2 years. We plan to stay for 4 months in the US, then we
have to be overseas for 2 months, re-enter the US again for another 3
months, leave again for two months and finanlly come back to the US.
Then no other stays overseas are planed yet.

Would this be possible or would we jeopardize our GC?

Any comments are greately appreciated.

Henning

WebMaster

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Dec 8, 2000, 5:42:49 PM12/8/00

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As far as I know, you need to be in US for 6 months per year total. You
may want to check with an attorney and other people in this news group.

Take care

Ingo

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Dec 9, 2000, 1:42:52 AM12/9/00

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I think this should be safe. If you want to be certain, apply for
another reentry permit (but once it expires, the next one would
probably only be good for one year).

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.
For reliable advice, please consult with a
professional immigration attorney.

For further information, check the following
frequently-requested links.

For many questions, you may find answers at
http://travel.state.gov/visa_services.html
(Department of State)

or
http://ins.usdoj.gov (INS).

For consular policies and visa reciprocity fees,
find your consulate in
http://travel.state.gov/links.html

For information on affidavit of support for marriage
to US citizens (I-864), go to
http://travel.state.gov/i864gen.html
and
http://travel.state.gov/checklist.html

For information on entering the US as a K-1:
http://www.k1poelist.com/

For poverty levels, see
http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/00poverty.htm

For information on H/L/O/P visa extensions at Dept.
of State in St. Louis, MO, see
http://travel.state.gov/revals.html

For non-official information, check:

(When using these sites, and any Web sites, please
watch out for privacy, as I do not know all site
operators.)

http://www.visalaw.com
http://www.shusterman.com
http://www.immigration.com
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall
http://www.murthy.com/
http://www.getusavisa.com
http://greencard-lottery.virtualave.net/
http://www.jcvisa.com
(H-1B) http://www.h1bresources.com
(marriage and fiancee) http://www.kamya.com/misc/
(marriage and fiancee) http://www2.apex.net/users/thehydes
http://www.formshome.com
http://www.workpermit.com

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and do not receive nor accept payment in return for
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site and want your Web site listed here, please
e-mail me).

Ed MacNeil

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Dec 9, 2000, 6:05:01 PM12/9/00

to Henning Schreiber

Hi Henning,

THIS SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE. I AM NOT A LAWYER. I
DON'T EVEN PLAY ONE ON TV!

Providing your stay abroad is not even one day over the two years
authorized by your reentry permit, you should have no trouble being
readmitted. The additional travel should pose no problem if you either
have your reentry permit renewed or be very sure that you have the means
to show that you did not intend to abandon your U.S. permanent residence.

If naturalization is important to you, you might want to review the
physical presence requirements as stays of over one year do break your
period of residence for naturalization purposes.

Ed MacNeil
Ancient Aviator
North Hampton, NH, USA

nbls19001

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Dec 10, 2000, 2:12:58 PM12/10/00

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As far as I know, you have to be in the US for half of the 3 or 5 years
(depending on reason for green card) to get citizenship. Being away for
more than 50% of the time doesn't affect your green card as long as you have
US residency and can prove it (in other words, having a house, bank account,
pay taxes etc).

Ingo <ingo-imm...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3a31d37c.9631673@news...

Ingo

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Dec 11, 2000, 12:12:26 AM12/11/00

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On Sun, 10 Dec 2000 19:12:58 GMT, "nbls19001"
<nbls...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

>As far as I know, you have to be in the US for half of the 3 or 5 years
>(depending on reason for green card) to get citizenship.

Also, any absence of one year or more will restart the clock.

>Being away for more than 50% of the time doesn't affect your green card as long as you have
>US residency and can prove it (in other words, having a house, bank account,
>pay taxes etc).

That's half true. If you are out of the country for more than a year,
you will lose your GC anyway (two years if you get a reentry permit).

Ingo