Need urgent help on a green card entry issue

R

rksitar

New Member
I am an American citizen and I sponsored my Mom in India for a green card. She has her interview end of this month (April 2010) that I hope will be successful.

After she gets her green card in April, she wants to come to the US in May 2010. However, she wants to return to India for a brief period in December 2010, and so wants to purchase a return ticket, i.e., that is a ticket from India to the US (in May) and return back to India (in Dec).

I read somewhere that a return ticket could be construed as evidence of not wanting to immigrate to the US during her entry in May. And, that it puts her at risk of not being able to enter the US for this reason. Is this really true?

A round-trip ticket makes the most sense for us in all respects. First, a one-way ticket is more expensive. Further, the entire family (including myself) plan to go for a brief visit to India during the winter break in December. So, it only makes sense that my Mom who will be staying with us also return in Dec.

Should I really worry about this? Or should I just instruct her to get the return ticket that makes more sense for us? How much of an issue is this?

thanks much

RK
 
rksitar said:
I read somewhere that a return ticket could be construed as evidence of not wanting to immigrate to the US during her entry in May. And, that it puts her at risk of not being able to enter the US for this reason. Is this really true?
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Absolutely not. CBP agents do not ask entering permanent residents about their (return) tickets. That is all there is to it. They can only raise questions when a permanent resident was absent for more than 6 months.
 
König said:
Absolutely not. CBP agents do not ask entering permanent residents about their (return) tickets. That is all there is to it. They can only raise questions when a permanent resident was absent for more than 6 months.
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Sometimes they do ask about the ticket, and it can be a problem if it is a return ticket back out of the US. And they sometimes raise harsh questions about the traveling even if the permanent resident was away for less than 6 months. But normally that won't happen unless the trip under 6 months is one of a series of multiple consecutive long trips.
 
rksitar said:
After she gets her green card in April, she wants to come to the US in May 2010. However, she wants to return to India for a brief period in December 2010, and so wants to purchase a return ticket, i.e., that is a ticket from India to the US (in May) and return back to India (in Dec).
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How will she return to the US after December? A one-way ticket into the US, or another return ticket that ends up in India?
 
I entered the Us 19 times as a permanent resident (and many more than that as a H1-B visa holder and advance parolee) and never, not even once I was asked to show my ticket.
 
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