Continuous Residence Question (Six months out)

N

narengunasekera

New Member
Hi I have a quick question, I tried looking in the FAQ's but couldn't seem to dfind anything to help, I've been a green card holder for almost 6 years but the first 8 months I was out of the country. I then have spent over 70% of my time in the US but have one trip that was about a week over six months that I got back from in 04/05/2004 (I was away doing a MSc in England). Would that reset my continuous residence so I would have to wait until 2009 until I can apply? Thank you in advance for any and all help :)
 
Technically that trip longer than 6 months could reset your continuous residence clock, but as a practical matter, many students are able to prove their overseas education trips are temporary in nature, and thus did not break residence.

Of more importance is whether you made a series of back to back "visits" to the US in order to avoid breaking residency. Under such circumstances it is much harder to prove your case. Everything is going to depend on the IO you get for your interview, and how long your overall period spent overseas turned out to be. e.g. 2 years full time study abroad, punctuated with short return trips to the US every 6 months is significantly harder to get around than a 1 year course with only a single visit to the US.
 
First 8 months of your green card being out of the country could be a problem. Technically you would have abandoned your green card by that and regarless of how long you remained here on your green card after, that first 8 months would mean you had an illegal presence in the US since (even though you were lucky and didn't get your green card revoked upon returning).

Could be a big issue...
 
I was out of the country for 11 months, but nevertheless passed the interview. My gut feel says that you have pretty good chances to pass, but prepare all possible documents (mentioned on this site) for the interview, particularly, tax transcripts for last 5 years. Ultimately, the interviewing officer will have to decide on your case...
 
I was in my final year of college in England when I got my greencard so had to go back and finish, hence the 8 months out on my first go. I though 12 months was abandonment?

Thereafter I worked in the US for 1.5 years. Was out for two six month trips while doing my 1 year MSc in England, then came back and have been working since then. I was out for a few months in Dec 05 for some volunteer work back home and then one more one month trip in Dec 06. Other than that I've been working here since June 2002. Maintained a residence, bank account and credit card since 2002. Should that be enough to swing the six month issue?
 
I think it'll be a tough interview, but probably worth a shot. Be prepared with lots of proof to show that you always planned your trips to be temporary.

As far as the abandonment issue goes, there is no hard and fast definition of what you have to do to show abandonment, however it is presumed you will have abandoned your LPR after 1 year outside the US if you do not have a reentry permit. That is why many people believe they can be away for up to 1 year without issue... it ain't necessarily so, but sometimes people can be hard to convince otherwise!
 
And with all these continual residency questions, it's ultimatly to the IO to decide. Some have gotten their citizenships and other have been deported for basically the same thing. So it's always going to carry a heavy risk to the interview. Just depends if you're ready for their ultimate decision.

If you're not prepared for a sudden departure, then maybe staying on a GC is better. If you think you have all the requirements met as outlined, and you have complete proof of your legal presence in the US, then it could be worth a shot.

Another situation is they'll review your evidence and not make a decision during the interview. So that might mean more waiting.

Now with the new changes they've made, I wouldn't be surprised if they're not letting things go as easily as they used to...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top