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University abroad and maintaining PRS

Ent1

New Member
Hello.

I'm a DV2014 winner that was issued an immigrant visa that expires on September 17. I was normally planning to move by then, but I failed to pass all my remaining university courses and will need to study for another year. Therefore I intend to make entry in early July and travel back out of US before September after receiving my green card, in order to complete my study.

This process will take about 10 months, so I won't be able to re-enter the US for good until July 2015. My question is: would this put my permanent resident status into danger? If so, are there any measures I can take to avoid problems?

I hope this is the right sub-forum for this question. Thank you all in advance.

Note: Re-entry permit is not an option for me, as it can take well over 2 months to be issued.
 
After you enter to activate your LPR status you are allowed to leave for up to 12 months without the re-entry permit. I think that is particularly understandable for someone at the beginning of their LPR journey. For a LPR that has already been living in the country they should "maintain" a home presence in the USA while away, but that is less of a concern in your situation. You enter to activate the LPR, you leave to tie up loose ends, you come back to the USA to settle. All understandable. So - you should be fine. However, do not go over 12 months.

Oh and tis time - don't fail your exams! :cool:
 
Hello.

I'm a DV2014 winner that was issued an immigrant visa that expires on September 17. I was normally planning to move by then, but I failed to pass all my remaining university courses and will need to study for another year. Therefore I intend to make entry in early July and travel back out of US before September after receiving my green card, in order to complete my study.

This process will take about 10 months, so I won't be able to re-enter the US for good until July 2015. My question is: would this put my permanent resident status into danger? If so, are there any measures I can take to avoid problems?

I hope this is the right sub-forum for this question. Thank you all in advance.

Note: Re-entry permit is not an option for me, as it can take well over 2 months to be issued.

If you're certain you will be completing your program and retuning to the US in one year or slightly less, you should be fine upon your return. However, if there's any doubt it might take more than one year before you return, you should seriously consider the re-entry permit option which by the way can be mailed to the embassy of your home country or wherever it is you're based. You're not required to stay back in the US and receive the permit before leaving. You only need to stay for the bio, and that does not take 2 months.
 
@Britsimon
Thank you very much, that's reassuring.

...However, if there's any doubt it might take more than one year before you return, you should seriously consider the re-entry permit option which by the way can be mailed to the embassy of your home country or wherever it is you're based. You're not required to stay back in the US and receive the permit before leaving. You only need to stay for the bio, and that does not take 2 months.

I had no idea, that is great. I will consider this just to make sure.
 
If you're certain you will be completing your program and retuning to the US in one year or slightly less, you should be fine upon your return. However, if there's any doubt it might take more than one year before you return, you should seriously consider the re-entry permit option which by the way can be mailed to the embassy of your home country or wherever it is you're based. You're not required to stay back in the US and receive the permit before leaving. You only need to stay for the bio, and that does not take 2 months.

Mom, is there an up to date confirmation of this? I read in another forum a few months ago that the form (can't remember which it is) was in backlog for being processed as it is used for other things too and someone had waited four months for a bio appointment!! Maybe particular to the service centre they were using too. There were complaints that DACA was causing backlogs in everything else but I don't know if that is true or if it was just an anti- rant.
 
Mom, is there an up to date confirmation of this? I read in another forum a few months ago that the form (can't remember which it is) was in backlog for being processed as it is used for other things too and someone had waited four months for a bio appointment!! Maybe particular to the service centre they were using too. There were complaints that DACA was causing backlogs in everything else but I don't know if that is true or if it was just an anti- rant.

No doubt, when it comes to dealing with USCIS, there are always some unfortunate cases that sometimes fall through the cracks resulting in months and months of waiting. Form I-131 which is used for applying for the re-entry permit is also used when applying for Refugee Travel Document and Advance Parole Document. Regardless of which purpose the form is being used for, the bio appointment is typically sent out about a month, sometimes 2 after the application is officially received. (I guess I should have indicated the "official acceptance" portion in my initial post. A lot of applicants typically starts counting from the date they mail out their application or the date they confirmed application delivery through whatever courier service was used). No doubt, the applicable service center equally play a role as to when applicant A receives bio appointment which could be withing a month of the official receipt of application compared to applicant B who receives his bio letter two months after. The actual approval (or sometimes denial) of the application itself may now take months in coming

And yes, DACA is causing backlogs in most, if not all applications USCIS is processing.
 
According to this page https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do all the service centers are showing 3 months processing time for I-131s. I don't know if that is to official acceptance or to closure of the case?

The posted timeline is supposed to be for when the permit itself gets issued, and I've learnt to not even rely on those timelines because in reality, it often takes a bit longer than what is posted. There's usually a big gap between when the bio is captured and the application is processed.
 
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