How long do I have to stay in US per year in order to keep my green card?

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luk12

Registered Users (C)
I know my question is not really related to this forum. While I was waiting for my green card in the past, I got great help from here. Now I am facing a new issue. that is why I come back. If anybody here can give me your opinion or advice, I will gratefully appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

I am a US green card holder with Chinese citizenship. I want to travel canada for a few months. If possible I want to find a job and stay in Canada due to personal matters. I like to know lawfully how long I have to stay in US each year in order to keep my permanent resident status. 6 months per year or one landing on US per year is enough?
 
Originally posted by luk12
I know my question is not really related to this forum. While I was waiting for my green card in the past, I got great help from here. Now I am facing a new issue. that is why I come back. If anybody here can give me your opinion or advice, I will gratefully appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

I am a US green card holder with Chinese citizenship. I want to travel canada for a few months. If possible I want to find a job and stay in Canada due to personal matters. I like to know lawfully how long I have to stay in US each year in order to keep my permanent resident status. 6 months per year or one landing on US per year is enough?
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It is widely believed to be six months. However, that is not a rule or the only rule. You will have to demonstrate to the officer at the port of entry that you are still maintaining and satisfying the permanent residency requirements. If he is not satisfied, you will go back to Canada, I guess and praise NAFTA.
So, besides the six months, maintain your accounts, house, bills, credit cards, pay taxes, maintain your car and insurance, maybe your pets and this is the proof that indeed you never abandoned your GC and obligations.

It would be much better to get Citinzenship..
Join us and we will fight for that too.
 
Thanks for your reply. cinta.
By the way, what is NAFTA?
It seems like that it is kind of complicate or likely impossible to keep the green card staus in US and reside abroad at the same time. As you said, it is better to get the citizenship before I think about living or working outside US. So probably I will consider travelling back and forth between US and Canada.
 
NAFTA - North Amercian Free Trade Association

canada mexico and usa are the members
 
If you go to Canada as GC holder or US citizen or for that matter h1b holder there is no way, as far as I know, for Immigration to learn that you left US. When I go to Canada as H1B holder INS officer does not do anything with my I-94. I believe that they also don't bother with any stamping on US side for GC Holders or US Citizens.
 
To the best of my knowledge (based on prior postings by others and experiences of some people i know), you have to be in USA for atleast 6 months in every calendar year. This 6 months need not be continuous. So you can goto canada in July and comeback in June next year. Also you can take a 2 yr reentry permit and live outside the country for 2 continuous years. How ever it is advised to maintain some sort of links to this country (credit card payments, some sort of rental stuff etc) even during that 2 yr period. May be you just rent a storage room and put some furniture in that and pay monthly rent (look for cheaper deals) for 2 yrs. That will be a great way of showing that you haven't abandoned this country. What a pity that these USCIS / immigration department treats us so bad while we are waiting for GC, and yet does not allow us to leave this country after we get GC :mad:
 
Ironical

Is it also not ironical that you go through all the frustrations and anxieties to get the green card which makes it possible to stay in the US for good and the then once you get it, you start thinking of how you can stay out of the US for extended periods of time without affecting the GC?

:confused: :confused: :confused:
 
You are right Tim.

When you do not get GC you cry for not getting GC and once you get it you want to leave US.

Even in other countries you need to be for a specific period for you to maintain PR. I lost NZ PR due to this.
 
green card = another confinement

I am chinese citizenship & US green card holder. I am intending to go back to China because there are massive opportunities there. I want to hold a full time Prof. position in a Chinese University and tried to open some bussiness, thus I need time exceeding 6 months for this effort. If after five years for the US citizenship, at that time everything may be too late ( many good opportunities are already grasped by others).

I really wish BCIS could give the green-card holders freedom in this issue, thus we will not lose sth to gain sth, while the green card actually grants us more freedom space, not remove us from one confinement and put us into another confinement.
 
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