Family away in home country and want to stay for an year

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nlssubbu

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

All my family members are GC holders. My family is right now in my home country and would like to stay there for a year. Can I file I-131 for them? If they are requested for finger printing, can that also be sent to the US embassy in my home country?

Thanks in advance.
 
Nlssubbu has a good point. When you're not a citizen, you're living in a place that somebody else controls the keys and they can lock you out because you stayed out too long without permission, and when you get in you are supposed to carry a card just to walk around. That's not really "home" ... you're just a guest.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
It depends on the right to private property, doesn't it? ;)
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Since I'm a wording Nazi :D , I'm just playing with the definition of "home" for the sake of immigration:)

I consider LPR as a special kind of visa status which doesn't have expiration date and GC holder is still a "guest"(that's why we are called alien). As Being a guest to the US, the US is not my home.
 
Jackolantern said:
Nlssubbu has a good point. When you're not a citizen, you're living in a place that somebody else controls the keys and they can lock you out because you stayed out too long without permission, and when you get in you are supposed to carry a card just to walk around. That's not really "home" ... you're just a guest.
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I agree with you and with GotPR too. GC is just "the best type" of visa that you can have , plus giving you chance to apply for the citizenship. To be safe you can call U.S. "home" when asked by immigration officer, but in fact it cannot be real home as you, guys, explained above.

If I was born and had lived in Europe for over than 20 years and now have been moving to America where I have no family, friends, etc... Where do I have most of my ties? What do you think? :)
 
Hannah7 said:
To be safe you can call U.S. "home" when asked by immigration officer, but in fact it cannot be real home as you, guys, explained above.
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I suppose I have a somewhat different perspective because of my parents' experience. They always had the right to return to their native country, but it was no longer home to them - because it was under foreign (Soviet) occupation. They actually did not have the right to leave. :)

I don't get too concerned with my absolute right to re-entry as a citizen versus the slightly limited one I have as a Permanent Resident, since my family's experience has been that it counts for less than you think at times. I guess it all depends on your outlook - I see the opportunities for me in America far more than the minor limitations.
 
I strongly believe in the old saying of "Home is where you make it". I have been living in the US for over a decade and just this year I finally received my GC. It was a long journey but given the choices I had, I would do it all over again.


Stoned!
 
TheRealCanadian: From my grand-dad I know some people who left Soviet terrirory during communist era. They had to get asylum status and couldn't return to their homes. These people usually left their families and friends for good.
If they returned they would be prisoned! Nowadays the situation is way different, it's freedom.

I'd like to make my home in the U.S. , but keeping connections with friends and family in EU. This is not a problem for the short time, but U.S. cannot be real home from the outset.

What if I wanted to go traveling around the world for, say, 3 years ? Just traveling for pleasure. This may sound strange for most ordinary people, but I know personally some friends who made such long journeys (expeditions). I may want to arrange something similar in the next 5 years, but then risking loosing my green card in spite of the fact, that I would not establish any residency in a foreign country.

Do you think after the president election this gc holder's absence rule may change?
 
I guess it's all relative. If your original country no longer exists, or won't take you back, or will imprison or kill you if you go back, then having a GC certainly makes the US more of a home than there. But if your non-US country of citizenship gives you an never-ending right to live freely and work and vote and own property there without ever being removed from the country for any legal reason, that is more of a home than living in the US with a GC.
 
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Hannah7 said:
What if I wanted to go traveling around the world for, say, 3 years ? Just traveling for pleasure.
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That's what reentry permits are for (you won't get as much as 3 years, but since the 2 years of the RP starts at the approval date, you'll still get 2 years plus a few months).
Do you think after the president election this gc holder's absence rule may change?
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No chance. That aspect of immigration is never up for debate.
 
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