Maintaing Permanent Resident Status

senowen said:
Contrary to what the other posters say, it is not completely impossible, just very, very risky. I know several people who basically live outside the United States and come back every year for around a month using a Re-entry Permit. They have done this for the last four years without incident. However, I must warn you that they have been very lucky. I also know others that have been detained upon entry into the United States attempting to do the same thing. They were asked to voluntarily give up their LPR status and accepted immediate "voluntary departure" from the US on the next plane back to their country. Other people have had their greencards taken away and placed into removal proceedings when they refused to voluntarily leave.

However, one thing you should know is that your LPR status cannot be taken away while you are outside the United States (unless you apply for a change of status yourself). That means it all depends on what happens when you attempt to re-enter the country. If the immigration officer is not paying attention he/she may just stamp your passport/re-entry permit and let you into the country without really noticing how long you have been gone. However, if the IO really looks at your passport and notices the length between the entry dates, then you will be sent to secondary inspection and questioned about why you have been gone so long, or why you keep leaving the country for long periods. It is at that point where an officer will accuse you of not maintaining permanent residence and ask you to voluntarily give up your status or face proceedings.
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Is checking your past entry dates on passport the only way an officer can determine how long you have been out of the country?

If so, no wonder many people chooses to come back only once every six months to maintain their LPR....

But this doesn't quite make sense. If I stay in the US for a long time without traveling aboard, then my past entry dates will also be many years ago...
 
I think the IO can check the computer too, but it may not contain all the information, just as the passport may not contain all the information.
 
Th IO can check the computer and it does contain all the information.
I basically work in Europe, and live in the US. I have a house, car, bank account bills etc in the US.
I fly back and forth between the US and europe every week (FLy to Europe on Sunday night, return to US friday) and the IO has all my entry exit data. I was actually asked why I travel back and forth so much.
 
Nkelkar said:
Th IO can check the computer and it does contain all the information.
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Maybe in your case they have all your information, but for many people there is no entry made into any system when they leave the US by air (except passenger manifests, which are imperfect because they don't have A# or SS#), because the green card is not always checked when they leave. And at some land and sea entry points, they just look at the card and let you in without recording the card's details. So for many people, the information USCIS has will be incomplete.
 
namedude said:
But if you do all of this - how can they take your GC away - this will probably not fly with the court. If you play your cards correctly you will be able to show that yoy always maintained intent to come back to live in the US for good.
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If you have done all the right things AND can provide sufficient proof, you should be OK. But those long trips may still result in you having to prove your case in the secondary inspection room or in front of an immigration judge.
 
A relative of someone I know was denied a visitor visa recently because the US Embassy claimed that the relative overstayed last time they were in the US. As far as I know, the relative had applied for an extension which was approved.

I don't have a lot of details on this, but my guess is that the I-94 card that is returned, its information is actually entered into the immigration computer systems.


Stoned!
 
Nkelkar said:
Th IO can check the computer and it does contain all the information.
I basically work in Europe, and live in the US. I have a house, car, bank account bills etc in the US.
I fly back and forth between the US and europe every week (FLy to Europe on Sunday night, return to US friday) and the IO has all my entry exit data. I was actually asked why I travel back and forth so much.
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Are you sure they have all the data? A friend of mine claimed that he only comes back every six months but when IO asked, he said he was out only two months. Never had a problem so far. I highly doubt they know your exit dates.
 
StonedAnt said:
A relative of someone I know was denied a visitor visa recently because the US Embassy claimed that the relative overstayed last time they were in the US. As far as I know, the relative had applied for an extension which was approved.

I don't have a lot of details on this, but my guess is that the I-94 card that is returned, its information is actually entered into the immigration computer systems.
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Yet their information still remained incomplete, because they didn't have a record of the approved extension.

Yes, the I-94 is used to track exits from the US. But permanent residents don't get an I-94 when they enter, neither do they hand in one when they leave (except for those who got a green card via adjustment of status and decide to surrender the last I-94).
 
When you depart the US via an Airplane, your GC is swiped in and thus linked to your Passenger manifest which is then transmitted to the Dept. HomeLand Security.
I have to show them my GC everytime i fly out and they swipe it at check in (I fly from Philadelphia). Dont know what happens when you leave by boat or road.
 
Nkelkar said:
When you depart the US via an Airplane, your GC is swiped in and thus linked to your Passenger manifest which is then transmitted to the Dept. HomeLand Security.
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For you they swiped the card for your departure, but they don't do that for everybody every time at every airport, as others elsewhere on the forum have noted.
 
Even if the information is missed from the I-94 return or GC/Passport swipe, I am sure that the airlines are required to pass the passenger information to the US Dept of Homeland Security.


Stoned!
 
StonedAnt said:
Even if the information is missed from the I-94 return or GC/Passport swipe, I am sure that the airlines are required to pass the passenger information to the US Dept of Homeland Security.
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What kind of information do the airlines have? I suppose that they don't know anything except name and surname if you don't pay by credit card ...

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MY OBSERVATION:
I've heard about people who didn't get the second tourist or study visas in spite of the fact they left U.S. before visa expiration. They failed to return the I-94 somehow. So if the airlines shared the information with DHS they would know on the embassy, that these people hadn't overstayed. Right?

I'm thinking like that, but thats only my very humble opinion :)
 
Hannah7 said:
What kind of information do the airlines have? I suppose that they don't know anything except name and surname if you don't pay by credit card ...
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Unless you are thinking of domestic flights, airlines go through your entire documentation on international travel, this was happening especially in the US even way before 911.

Hannah7 said:
MY OBSERVATION:
I've heard about people who didn't get the second tourist or study visas in spite of the fact they left U.S. before visa expiration. They failed to return the I-94 somehow. So if the airlines shared the information with DHS they would know on the embassy, that these people hadn't overstayed. Right?

I'm thinking like that, but thats only my very humble opinion :)
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The rules clearly state that failure to surrender the I-94 may jeapordize the future visits to the US. It doesn't matter at that point if the airline shared the information or not. Also, when it comes to the matters of USCIS or DHS, common sense may not be applicable. Just go with the flow instead of challenging it with logic would be my recommendation.


Stoned!
 
Hannah7 said:
What kind of information do the airlines have? I suppose that they don't know anything except name and surname if you don't pay by credit card ...

---
MY OBSERVATION:
I've heard about people who didn't get the second tourist or study visas in spite of the fact they left U.S. before visa expiration. They failed to return the I-94 somehow. So if the airlines shared the information with DHS they would know on the embassy, that these people hadn't overstayed. Right?

I'm thinking like that, but thats only my very humble opinion :)
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Also if somebody is getting a second visa denied, there could be other reasons why, Overstaying is not the only reason.
 
Jackolantern said:
If you have done all the right things AND can provide sufficient proof, you should be OK. But those long trips may still result in you having to prove your case in the secondary inspection room or in front of an immigration judge.
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Bottom line is that I have not seen a single case where somebody had his GC taken away when the person
- was on his first reentry permit
- paid US resident taxes
- maintained significant ties to the US - like employment links, storing personal stuff in the US, having address in the US, paying bills in the US out of US bank accounts, using US credit cards abroad and paying them off from US bank accounts, maintained drivers licence.

On top of this it is good to have a temporay reason and it is good to document this reason on reentry permit application.

Maybe somebody should enlighten and show one case that satisfied what I said here and where a person had to give up GC.

It is good to have all the documentation with you when entering the US on reentry permit.

However even if you have all the documentation and even if you do everything right - there is no guarantee that you will not be sent to secondary inspection. There is no guarantee that some stupid IO will not ask you to just give up your GC. But the bottom line is that you will then win in court. But the most likely scenario is that they will allow you to just enter.

If somebody has some info that contradicts this - please post.

All the best.

Disclaimer:
I am not a lawyer and do not take this advice seriously.
 
namedude said:
Bottom line is that I have not seen a single case where somebody had his GC taken away when the person
- was on his first reentry permit
- paid US resident taxes
- maintained significant ties to the US - like employment links, storing personal stuff in the US, having address in the US, paying bills in the US out of US bank accounts, using US credit cards abroad and paying them off from US bank accounts, maintained drivers licence.
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Nobody in this thread is saying that those who have a reentry permit should expect problems. Those without the permit who take long trips are the ones who have something to worry about.

Nevertheless, anybody entering the US with an "exception" document like Advance Parole, Transportation Letter, or Reentry Permit should be prepared to go to secondary inspection.
 
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