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Minimum Period Staying Outside The Usa

M

maamemens

Registered Users (C)
Dear All,

My wife and I have our visa thru the DV lottery system. But I hv an unfinshed work to do in my home country. The visa expires in February 2008. We will be coming in November 2007. I wanted to return back to my home country after acquiring our green card and finally return to the USA after six months. Is this possible? How long can I stay outside the US? Do I have to re-enter the US with my wife ( principal applicant)?

Need your help badly.
 
Is this possible?
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yes

How long can I stay outside the US?
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up to a year. You have to have proof that you have established and that you are maintaining your residency in the US. If you stay out for more than a year and you don't get a reentry permit, you will lose your LPR status.

Do I have to re-enter the US with my wife ( principal applicant)?
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not on subsequent reentries. Just the first time.
 
Minimum Period Staying Outside The Us

Dear All,

I wanted to be sure whether the minimum period one has to stay outside the Us is six months or one yesr? In which cases is it six months?

Clarify this for me.
 
Dear LucyMO,

Thank u very much the step-by-step answers u provided. How do I prove I have established in the US?
 
maamemens said:
Dear All,

I wanted to be sure whether the minimum period one has to stay outside the Us is six months or one yesr? In which cases is it six months?

Clarify this for me.
Click to expand...

I think what you want to know is the maximum time period you can stay away from the US without loosing LPR status.
The maximum period you can stay away (without first getting a re-entry permit) is 1 year.
However, if you are keen to acuire US citizenship as soon as possible, then it would be best not to stay away for more than 6 months. This is because to be eligible for naturalization, you have to have continuously resided in the US for 5 years. You should also be physically present in the US for 3 years during that time.
Staying away for more than 6 months resets the clock for naturalization.

edit: Also I think that if you stay away for less than 6 months, there is less of a chance that the authorities might suspect that you intended abandon residence in the US.
And I think given that you will travel out of the US so soon after getting a green card and given that it would be difficult to establish "ties" to the US within a short time, it might be a good idea if you get a re-entry permit even though you may intend to return to the US sooner than 1 year just to have documentary evidence that you had no intention of abandoning your residence in the US.
Read this article -
http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/retain-greencard.html

It has a lot of very useful intormation about the steps that need to be taken to maintain the green card when travelling away.
 
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This is because to be eligible for naturalization, you have to have continuously resided in the US for 5 years. You should also be physically present in the US for 3 years during that time.
Staying away for more than 6 months resets the clock for naturalization.
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I do believe it's 2.5 years out of 5 that need to be spent in the US with absenses of no more than 6 months each.
 
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