Back after 174 days - My experience

S

sotiredofwaiting

Registered Users (C)
Entered at SFO last week. It went like this:
-How long were out out of the US?
-Almost 6 months.
-What was the purpose of your trip?
-Work.
-Do you have a re-entry permit?
-I do.

That was it, no more questions.
So my advice to everybody who plans on being out for a while is to invest $385 and get the permit.
 
I was out of the US for 11mths without a re entry permit and entered through LAX. The Immigration officer asked us what the purpose of our trip was, I was honest and explained we had family issues to deal with, which was also due to the length of our absents from the US. He was ok with that and said if I plan a trip like that in the future to get a re entry permit.
I agree if you need to be absent more than 6 mths get a re entry permit. I think the officer was a little leanient with us due our issues and we had a child.
 
I was out for like nine months and this was not the only trip that I took but the longest. Anyways I had no problems whatsoever entering into the US.
My guess is any trip over one year makes the card invalid.
 
A lot depends on the officer that you face. Some people take one trip of 5 months and get hassled, while others manage to take a string of consecutive 5.5 month trips over 3 or 4 years before they run into a problem. But I get the sense that in recent months they are becoming more diligent about checking people's past travels and asking them about it, based on the recent increased trend of forum postings with such experiences.
 
I have a similar situation. My parents are in INDIA. They have green card issued here and are in INDIA since july 2008. can they just come here and face officer at immigration or do they first need to go to the Consulate in INDIA to ask for re-entry permit. What is the Procedure?

Thanks in Advance.
 
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