Entry to US more than 6 months after exit. Will that be an issue?

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desirees

Registered Users (C)
Parents have a green card, they are working out details of leaving India to settle down here, meanwhile, they have been coming every six months. Immigration officials have started asking questions as to when they plan to live here permanently. They left last week ( mid-April). The plan is for them to be back early Dec ( about 8 months after exit from US) and apply for a re-entry permit. Hopefully the re-entry permit will buy them time to get the house sold in India so that they can move permanently. Do you think staying away for more than six months will be an issue when they return? Also, can they be denied entry when they return? Opinions/answers much appreciated.

D
 
If immigration officials have started asking questions, they likely noted something down in their computer records too, so it will get passed on from officer to officer. People with such situations are usually not advised entry, but formally asked to report to a judge who decides the next step. Coming 8 months after they have already asked questions to the effect, they are taking a risk. They should have applied re-entry permit now rather than planning 8 months down the line. Anyway, it is not the end of the world since they may not be stopped, and if stopped they still have chance to explain to the judge, and probably even file the re-entry permit despite any such stop.
 
Thanks for your reply. How does the process work if they are asked to explain to the judge? Say they come in Dec, at the airport, would they be told to meet with a judge right then, or allowed entry and then asked to meet with a judge?
 
desirees said:
Thanks for your reply. How does the process work if they are asked to explain to the judge? Say they come in Dec, at the airport, would they be told to meet with a judge right then, or allowed entry and then asked to meet with a judge?
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Allowed entry and (I presume) given a date.
 
desirees said:
Thanks for your reply. How does the process work if they are asked to explain to the judge? Say they come in Dec, at the airport, would they be told to meet with a judge right then, or allowed entry and then asked to meet with a judge?
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Green card taken away, and then they'll be told to see a judge on a given date (the date may be communicated to them a few days or weeks later). Then they'll have to convince the judge they are bona fide residents of the US, in order to get back the card and not be deported.

Given that they have already been warned, there is a strong chance they will end up in that situation if they don't return to the US within 6 months.
 
Thanks for the replies.

By questioning, let me elaborate. They have been asked when they are planning to move to the US since they have been coming to the US after six months. Parents have said that they are planning the move and that their house is on the market, and once the house is sold, they should be able to move. Immigration officers have actually agreed with them about the housing market. More like a conversation that anything. Do you think it is still a situation where their green card might be taken away?
 
When did they get their green cards? How long have they been traveling like that? (entering the US once every 5-6 months with a short stay in the US before departing again)
 
That means it will be almost 3 years of doing that by December when they return. If they saw the exact same officer who gave them a chance last time, they might be OK, but they'll almost surely see somebody else, and I would be surprised if they *don't* take away the green card if they stay out for more than 6 months. The last officer surely would have put a comment into the system to alert the next officer about their extended traveling. If their next trip is more than 6 months, that puts them into the category of "seeking admission" which invites more scrutiny and makes it easier for them to take away the green card.

If the house is what is holding them up, they need to move to the US and get an agent to sell it for them. And drop the price so it can sell faster. The judge isn't going accept selling the house an excuse when it has taken over 2.5 years. Everybody else sells theirs in less than that or they rent it out.

Maybe it would be better for them to officially surrender their GCs now, and apply for tourist visas. If their green card is involuntarily taken away, it will be very difficult to get a visa to visit, but it's easy to get a tourist visa after surrendering the GC via the I-407 process. They can surrender it and apply for the visa in the same visit to the consulate. Then in the future if/when they're actually ready to live in the US, you or your siblings (if any) can sponsor them again.
 
What is the evidence of your departue date from the US?

Maybe this topic has been hashed a million times but I still want to know: what is the evidence of your departure date from the US? Since there is no record other than the arrival stamp on your passport in your home country. Which also is moot if your passport has since expired and you get a new one.

So if you are gone for 8 months and you tell the officer you were gone for 3, how will they know. I know, I know it's called lying but what is a little white lie to preserve your GC?

Thoughts?

Jackolantern said:
That means it will be almost 3 years of doing that by December when they return. If they saw the exact same officer who gave them a chance last time, they might be OK, but they'll almost surely see somebody else, and I would be surprised if they *don't* take away the green card if they stay out for more than 6 months. The last officer surely would have put a comment into the system to alert the next officer about their extended traveling. If their next trip is more than 6 months, that puts them into the category of "seeking admission" which invites more scrutiny and makes it easier for them to take away the green card.

If the house is what is holding them up, they need to move to the US and get an agent to sell it for them. And drop the price so it can sell faster. The judge isn't going accept selling the house an excuse when it has taken over 2.5 years. Everybody else sells theirs in less than that or they rent it out.

Maybe it would be better for them to officially surrender their GCs now, and apply for tourist visas. If their green card is involuntarily taken away, it will be very difficult to get a visa to visit, but it's easy to get a tourist visa after surrendering the GC via the I-407 process. They can surrender it and apply for the visa in the same visit to the consulate. Then in the future if/when they're actually ready to live in the US, you or your siblings (if any) can sponsor them again.
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GC_TRAP said:
I know it's called lying but what is a little white lie to preserve your GC?
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Please do try it ...

Airlines to US are expected to hand off their passenger manifest along with passport information, I think it is known as API - advance passenger information. This presumably goes into the same database which contains all your departure and arrival information. There was a NYT article a few months back saying the data was only 90-95% accurate, but the misses were on the road entry/exit as I recall.
 
GC_TRAP said:
Maybe this topic has been hashed a million times but I still want to know: what is the evidence of your departure date from the US? Since there is no record other than the arrival stamp on your passport in your home country.
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They have exit records. That's why people like the OP's parents got hassled about their extended traveling, and others have had their green cards taken away.

Granted, they don't have 100% of the records for 100% of the people, but you don't know that they have or don't have about you.
 
Good point Jacko and sanjose...

Though I think this subject still lies in the grey zone. After all, what about hundreds or thousands of US GC holders who cross the border regularly into Canada by road each day, or each year. How does API come into play then?

I think it's mostly a scare tactic used by USCIS to enforce laws...I did a find on google and not much valuable info comes up on API. I'm still looking to see what API means and does the date actually contain a passenger's departure date or just usual information listed here:

Minimum information:

given names (as they appear on the passport)
last name
gender
date of birth

Additional information required before you check-in:

passport number
country which issued your passport
passport expiry date
nationality
the Alien Registration Number (Green Card) for those who have US residency.



Jackolantern said:
They have exit records. That's why people like the OP's parents got hassled about their extended traveling, and others have had their green cards taken away.

Granted, they don't have 100% of the records for 100% of the people, but you don't know that they have or don't have about you.
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Wonderful !! Just because the airline collects the 10 pieces of information you mentioned, it does not mean they do not know flight date and flight number in their systems !! Wonderful !! Try providing this information without booking a flight ticket, or without providing a flight number.

Even if it is a scare tactic, are you recommending people start lying?
 
No, certainly there is no recommendation for people to lie. But I think it behooves us to know exactly what happens when you enter at POE and hopefully find what they do know or don't know about you.

Obviously, you cannot argue that all this exercise from USCIS is a totally useless and even unnecessary expense. Which of course is borne by the applicant. Does it make sense to do so much monitoring for Green Card holders who are almost as good as US citizens but without the power to vote. And by that I mean returning resident permit and the like.

ahh, if only we had somebody on here from the airline industry shed some light on what is provided to the USCIS at the time of one's departure, it will definitely bring the matter to rest.

sanjoseaug20 said:
Wonderful !! Just because the airline collects the 10 pieces of information you mentioned, it does not mean they do not know flight date and flight number in their systems !! Wonderful !! Try providing this information without booking a flight ticket, or without providing a flight number.

Even if it is a scare tactic, are you recommending people start lying?
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