2 months out of the country

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dhlunar

Registered Users (C)
Last night, I arrived with my wife from overseas. I am a USC and she is a GC holder. This was her first time traveling on her GC. She was gone for 2 months and I was only gone for 3 weeks.

The officer at immigration questioned what we do for a living and questioned why she was out of the country for 2 months. He asked for her passport, which if I correct is not necessary if you have a GC. He asked what we where bringing into the country and we said clothing and some gifts. The officer asked her if she knew the residency requirement. She said I did, and he said he doesn't care if I know or not, but wanted to know if she did. She said no longer then 6 months. He said that it is 6 months in a year and not a trip. He wrote a big letter on our customs form, which we found out later it means our bags where to be inspected. However, the officer at the bag inspection desk at customs didn't feel it was necessary and cleared us without opening our bags.

Was the officer at immigration correct in terms of saying 6 months in a year, or is it 6 months in a trip? I was under the assumption that as long as she is in the country for 18 of the 36 months during the 3 year period before citizenship it is ok, and any trip that is longer the six months is subject to further questioning.
 
"He asked for her passport, which if I correct is not necessary if you have a GC" Wrong. Even if you have a GC, you need to carry your passport.
 
dhlunar said:
... and any trip that is longer the six months is subject to further questioning.
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They can question anyone for any reason. As part of questioning, they should not lie, but I would not be surprised if they did it once in a while to check how the person reacts.
18 out of 36 months is the minimum requirement ... that does not mean no questions can be asked. Many people can structure their life to beat the rules ... once they know the rules.

Having said that, what happened is not unusual, but nothing much to worry about.
 
dhlunar said:
He asked for her passport, which if I correct is not necessary if you have a GC.
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A passport is not necessary, but they usually still want to see it if you have one. If you don't have one, they should still let you in with the GC alone, but you may have to explain why you don't have it (lost, stolen, renewal is pending, cannot get a PP because of asylum, etc.).

Was the officer at immigration correct in terms of saying 6 months in a year, or is it 6 months in a trip?
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Neither is true. There is no "magic formula", other than the one-year rule. Keeping each individual trip under 6 months is not guaranteed safety, and taking a trip of over 6 months is not guaranteed loss of the green card or loss of citizenship eligibility. They look at the totality of the circumstances -- what is your entire travel pattern in recent years, what ties do you have to the US, did you work when abroad, etc.

It is highly unusual to be harassed for a 2 month trip which was her only post-GC trip. That officer must have been constipated or something.
 
GCman2005 said:
"He asked for her passport, which if I correct is not necessary if you have a GC" Wrong. Even if you have a GC, you need to carry your passport.
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Not entirely true; a passport is not required for GC holders to enter the US. The POE officers have the right to ask for the passport, but they are still supposed to let you in with the GC alone.
 
I always presented the passport along with the GC when entering US by air, and every single time they stamped my passport with "ARC" admission class. I guess the CBP officer would become very suspicious how a person was able to depart an originating country without a passport because very few countries do not have outbound passport control (USA, Canada, sometimes UK, and ...?)
 
Thanks for the responses.

The officer did stamp in both of our passports. In mine he made no notation, and in hers he wrote "ARC." I also notice that when he swiped my wife's passport into the system, he made some notations in the computer but never swiped the GC.
 
In case anyone wanted to know, my original information was based off the following that I got from the CBP website:



Lawful Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) do not need a passport to enter the United States, however, may need a passport to enter another country. Please contact the embassy of the foreign country you will be traveling to for their requirements.

Lawful Permanent Residents of the U.S. must present a Permanent Resident Card ("Green Card", INS Form I-551), a Reentry Permit (if gone for more than 1 year), or a Returning Resident Visa (if gone for 2 years or more) to reenter the United States. U.S. LPRs are not required by the U.S. to have a passport for travel within the Western Hemisphere, although most foreign destinations will require you to have one to enter their country (LPRs that are out of the U.S. for more than 180 days are subject to new immigrant inspection procedures as per 8 USC 1101).

Foreign nationals that have applied for permanent residency may need to be approved for advance parole (prior to traveling out of the U.S.) in order to be readmitted when traveling back to the U.S. (H1, H4, L1, L2, K3, K4 or V2, V3 holders do not require advance parole to travel abroad after applying to adjust status).

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/de...esidents/session/L3NpZC84V3lfaVg2aw==/p/0/c/0
 
That is correct information. The fact that they ask for the passport doesn't mean it is mandatory. They just want to see it if you have it.
 
Jackolantern said:
A passport is not necessary, but they usually still want to see it if you have one. If you don't have one, they should still let you in with the GC alone, but you may have to explain why you don't have it (lost, stolen, renewal is pending, cannot get a PP because of asylum, etc.).



Neither is true. There is no "magic formula", other than the one-year rule. Keeping each individual trip under 6 months is not guaranteed safety, and taking a trip of over 6 months is not guaranteed loss of the green card or loss of citizenship eligibility. They look at the totality of the circumstances -- what is your entire travel pattern in recent years, what ties do you have to the US, did you work when abroad, etc.

It is highly unusual to be harassed for a 2 month trip which was her only post-GC trip. That officer must have been constipated or something.
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Thats a good one. :p
 
... maybe the IO didn't had sex in while :eek: ?

There's an easy response in such situations. Just tell the truth and smile :rolleyes:
 
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