One year abroad

[Gabriele]

My wife, I and our two daughters are permanent residents and plan to be in Germany for about one year. We need a quick information:

1) With a green card, do we need to return within 6 months or 12 months? Colleagues had to return more often than 6 months, but this recent official document says 12 months (https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Artic...language=en_US). We are confused. We can apply for I-131 but we wanted to be sure that we have to, since it costs over $2200 for four I-131. Is it necessary to apply for the I-131 for minors as well? We have read that we need to apply for I-131 before leaving. Do we need to wait for its approval before we go?


2) Is there some kind of permanent test (to be at least 6 months per year) associated with the Green Card? If we return in July 2023 (schools in Berlin finish on July 7), will this somehow impact our Permanent Residency? If we need to return each 6 months, or each 12 months, do we need to return all four of us? Is it sufficient if I return?

Thank you
Gabriele

[okccanary]

1. For your first question I am unsure of the answer. I believe the general rule is 6 months or less and it is easy to return and no questions asked. After 6 months it can be up to the officer whether he believes you have given up your permanent residence status. ie does he believe your life is now more outside of the USA rather than within it. That is why the safe bet is always the I-131 when you know it is going to be an extended stay, especially with your life fully being in Germany. As far as my understanding goes every Green Card holder is responsible for their own status so everyone would need one.

2. Don't quite understand your first question but in theory all officers have to do to check how long you've been away is by checking passport records of when you left the USA and when you returned. When applying for my GC I logged into my ESTA account and it has all times and what airports I entered and left from when travelling to the US. I assume everyone would need to come back in order to keep it compliant as every Greencard holder is responsible for their own status. However, as I don't have kids I am not totally sure how it works with minors but I would not be surprised to hear that there is no difference.

Obviously I am no expert and this is all purely my opinion.

All the ebst

[newacct]

There is no hard-and-fast rule guaranteeing that if you are away for less than X time you will absolutely be allowed in, or if you are away for more than Y time you will absolutely not be allowed in. Abandonment of residence is a subjective determination that looks at many factors, not just the length of absence. The longer you are away, the more likely you will be found to have abandoned residence, but it's all a matter of degree. Even if you are away for more than 1 year with no Re-entry Permit, the immigration officer and/or immigration judge can still let you in if they determine that you have not abandoned residence. Conversely, even if all of your absences have been less than 6 months, it is still possible in an extreme case to find that you have abandoned residence (e.g. if you leave for 5.5 months, come back for 1 day, and leave for 5.5 months again, repeatedly over years).

Officially, a green card is only valid for re-entry after an absence of less than 1 year, so you should definitely get a Re-entry Permit if you are going to be away for more than 1 year (although as I said above, it's possible for the immigration officer and/or immigration judge to waive that and let you in anyway even if you don't have it, but there's risk to that). For an absence of less than 1 year, a green card by itself is sufficient documents for re-entry, but some people like having a Re-entry Permit as a subjective indication that they intend to maintain residence. Also, the regulations say that someone with a Re-entry Permit will not be found to have abandoned residence on length of absence alone -- though they can still be found to have abandoned residence on other factors; a Re-entry Permit does not guarantee admission. As to whether this makes any difference for an absence of less than 1 year, some people think so, and some people don't.

[Mike E]

My wife, I and our two daughters are permanent residents and plan to be in Germany for about one year. We need a quick information:

1) With a green card, do we need to return within 6 months or 12 months? Colleagues had to return more often than 6 months, but this recent official document says 12 months (https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Artic...language=en_US). We are confused. We can apply for I-131 but we wanted to be sure that we have to, since it costs over $2200 for four I-131. Is it necessary to apply for the I-131 for minors as well? We have read that we need to apply for I-131 before leaving. Do we need to wait for its approval before we go?


2) Is there some kind of permanent test (to be at least 6 months per year) associated with the Green Card? If we return in July 2023 (schools in Berlin finish on July 7), will this somehow impact our Permanent Residency? If we need to return each 6 months, or each 12 months, do we need to return all four of us? Is it sufficient if I return?

Thank you
Gabriele

the maximum absence should be 180 days. If you might go over that you should file I-131 before leaving the USA.

Ib absence of a re-entry permit (via I-131) you should spend the majority of your time in the US.

[srsari]

I was told by immigration officer that, you should be in US for 6 months if you were out of USA for 6 months in a year. Looks like this is immigration law.

I was out of country for 13 months one time, 5 months one time and based on my experience, I really suggest you should apply for I-131 (Rentry/travel permit document) if you are living outside more than 6 months.

At least you and your spouse go for I-131 if it cost you more if you apply for kids.

[Kudla]

I was out of country for 13 months one time, 5 months one time and based on my experience, I really suggest you should apply for I-131 (Rentry/travel permit document) if you are living outside more than 6 months.

Please let us know, what were you asked when you were back after 13 months and which POE was this.