N470 Preservation of Residence Q's

[dfagen19]

I know there has been a lot of talk about this. I am considering returning to India to :

1) Pursue job opportunities with Indian subsidiaries of US based firms or

2) Perform outsourced consulting work for US companies in India by starting a company of my own or

3) Bodyshop myself in India and work for the Indian Market (or rupee)

In my understanding, getting a reentry permit lets you stay out of the country for as long as 2 years without jeopardizing your PR status as long as you continue to file taxes in the US. I think this would be the only choice if I go with option 3. How do you file taxes if you do not have a W2?

I believe I can file an N470 for option 1. Is this correct? I understand that this does not waive the 30 month physical presence requirement or the 3 month in-state residence requirement.

Can I establish a company here in the US for option 2 and start a fully owned susidiary in India and file an N-470 for myself?

 

[soccer101]

I think that option 3 only will work for Re-entry permit. It will not work for N-470. For N-470, one needs to be promoting trade abroad for a US based company. Or else the person needs to be protecting intellectual property rights of the multinational. I suppose you will need to report on your 1040 that you received income abroad. Also include any interest earned in US banks. You will need to get paid in dollars during India stay and your company's branch in US needs to support you. Usually, branches in US and India are autonomous with companies not willing to pay in US dollars during your India stay. I think this is due to tax implications for the company.

 

[dfagen19]

I think that option 3 only will work for Re-entry permit. It will not work for N-470. For N-470, one needs to be promoting trade abroad for a US based company. Or else the person needs to be protecting intellectual property rights of the multinational. I suppose you will need to report on your 1040 that you received income abroad. Also include any interest earned in US banks. You will need to get paid in dollars during India stay and your company's branch in US needs to support you. Usually, branches in US and India are autonomous with companies not willing to pay in US dollars during your India stay. I think this is due to tax implications for the company.

Thanks for your response.

Reentry permit should work for any situation, right? You could go home to take care of sick parents or family business or whatever and come back no later than 2 years from the approval date. Of coursem the residency requirement gets violated. The only precondition to that is that taxes have to be filed in the US, even if you did not earn any US wages that year. Am I wrong about this?

What about if I start a US company, pay myself a US salary, but shuttle back and forth? The companies that will be paying me will be doing so in dollars into a bank account here. Give me your best shot at this one. I will probably consult a tax professional and an immigration atty on this one at some point. The taxes might work out to be prohibitively high.

 

[soccer101]

I think you can get a re-entry permit in the 1st scenario. But remember that the period you stay abroad with re-entry permit will not count towards your citizenship. You can get a re-entry permit initially for 1 year. Subsequently, you can get it extended while in India.

Can the US clients paying you state that you are staying abroad for promoting trade on their behalf? If so, I think you might be able to apply for N-470. I think it helps if you are in sales/marketing/training departments rather than say software development area.

I guess N-470 eligibility is a bit complex. I am not aware of any one in this forum who actually got an N-470 approved. Please share with us if you talk to an attorney. I am curious as well about the lawyer's opinions. Also do make sure that you are consulting a top lawyer before taking any decision.