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foreverafter

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My wife and children ( all green card holders ) are overseas for 6 months now , they may stay one year . Do I need to file any paper work for their stay overseas and what are the risks involved?

Thank you.
 
foreverafter said:
My wife and children ( all green card holders ) are overseas for 6 months now , they may stay one year . Do I need to file any paper work for their stay overseas and what are the risks involved?

Thank you.
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You should have applied for a Re-Entry Permit BEFORE they left US. The problems they may face are:

1. When re-entering the Immigration Officer may give them a hard time.
2. Without the re-entry permit they have broken their Physical Presence requirement and thus cannot apply for citizenship until they have done so.
 
N400Applier said:
You should have applied for a Re-Entry Permit BEFORE they left US. The problems they may face are:

1. When re-entering the Immigration Officer may give them a hard time.
2. Without the re-entry permit they have broken their Physical Presence requirement and thus cannot apply for citizenship until they have done so.
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Actually they may be considered to have broken continuous residence even if they have a reentry permit - all that does is preserve LPR status, not your residency for naturalization purposes. An N-470 on the other hand, explicitly preserves natz residency, but is very difficult to obtain unless you fall into the correct govt/corporation/religious worker category.
 
N400Applier said:
You should have applied for a Re-Entry Permit BEFORE they left US. The problems they may face are:

1. When re-entering the Immigration Officer may give them a hard time.
2. Without the re-entry permit they have broken their Physical Presence requirement and thus cannot apply for citizenship until they have done so.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your time replying,

Actually they will be returning after a total of 8 months stay overseas, will that still be a problem for them, they have solid reasons like marriage, sickness and first term school obligation (my kids went to school there so that they don’t miss any school classes), that is why they delayed returning, please advise your suggestions...

Thank you.
 
Your kids don't matter as much as your wife. The important thing is that they don't loose their permanent residence and that they are living with you when you take your oath. Their citizenship will derive from yours.

Your wife, on the other hand, may loose her continuous residence. If you are staying here, and she comes back to visit in a way that keeps her from staying more than 6 months away, you might be able to talk her way into convincing an IO that continuity wasn't broken. However, I don't really know very much about this (and, of course, I'm not a lawyer). You might consider professional advice.
 
foreverafter said:
Thank you for your time replying,

Actually they will be returning after a total of 8 months stay overseas, will that still be a problem for them, they have solid reasons like marriage, sickness and first term school obligation (my kids went to school there so that they don’t miss any school classes), that is why they delayed returning, please advise your suggestions...

Thank you.
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boatbod is correct in stating that a reentry permit only preserves your LPR and does not count towards contiuous residence.

My advice: Apply for the Reentry permit for your family to preserve LPR. Get all documentation as to why they remained outside USA for so long. In case of wife, have bank accounts open in her name and also file joint taxes. These will help her in the long run. Also you may want to talk to a lawyer.
 
If your wife (and any children over 18) can prove their stay overseas was temporary in nature, they may still be eligible to naturalize after an 8 month trip. However, it is important to understand the burden of proof lies with them, as continuous residence is considered to be broken after a six month absence unless they demonstrate otherwise.

Proof includes immediate relatives who remained in the US, ongoing mortgage/lease agreements, IRS tax returns etc,etc.

Unfortunately the outcome of the interview in such cases really depends upon the officer conducting it. Good luck.
 
Thank you

Thank you all for your advice,

Will there be any problem at the airport when they return back after 8 months absence, they were forced to stay that long because of wedding, sickness and kids school. Do they need to bring any prove with them?

Any one with same experience on arrival at the airport , please help.

Thank you.
 
A humble advice , they should get back as soon as possible. I have seen cases at the airport where they refused to get the person in the country because he staid over the limit overseas. The officer told him you simply dont need to live in the states so no entry.
be very carefull , specially with a credit card they can take it away from them and then you have to start from scratch .
if you can get them back as soon as possible do that . the sooner the better because sooner or later they would have to try coming back.
my 2 cents
Markus
 
markus76 said:
A humble advice , they should get back as soon as possible. I have seen cases at the airport where they refused to get the person in the country because he staid over the limit overseas. The officer told him you simply dont need to live in the states so no entry.
be very carefull , specially with a credit card they can take it away from them and then you have to start from scratch .
if you can get them back as soon as possible do that . the sooner the better because sooner or later they would have to try coming back.
my 2 cents
Markus
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Actually, since they become LPR they never been absent more that 2 months each trip ( total days overseas since they become LPR 84 DAYS, not including the current absent days) , except for this one time. They left the U.S mid June 2006 , their 5 years as LPR completed mid July 2006, one month later ( while they were overseas ) , how will that be to their favor? (all this years their intention was to live in the U.S ).

Thanks.
 
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foreverafter said:
Actually, since they become LPR they never been absent more that 2 months each trip , except for this one time. They left the U.S mid June 2006 , their 5 years as LPR completed mid July 2006, one month later ( while they were overseas ) , how will that be to their favor? (all this years their intention was to live in the U.S ).

Thanks.
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Thats the thing with Green Cards. you can hold it for years and as soon as you leave and stay outside the country for long it gets cancelled regardless how long you had it for. If i were you I will consult a lawyer before doing anything .. at least they will direct you the right way.
good luck and hope things work out best
Markus
 
Before everyone gets all alarmist, lets not forget they have been away less than 1 year, so their LPR status is unlikely to be questioned at the PoE. Note however, they would need re-entry permit(s) if their trip was to extend beyond 12 month cutoff, otherwise their LPR is considered abandoned.
 
foreverafter said:
Thank you all for your advice,

Will there be any problem at the airport when they return back after 8 months absence, they were forced to stay that long because of wedding, sickness and kids school. Do they need to bring any prove with them?

Any one with same experience on arrival at the airport , please help.

Thank you.
Click to expand...
When they return they WILL have problems at PoE. Even though the trip is less than a year the minute the trip lasts more than 6 months they will stamp their passprts stating that they have been out of the country for more than 6 months. Their immigration pocess at the PoE (Port of Entry) WILL take longer. I have seen several of my relatives in the same situation. Please get a reentry permit to save hassles.
 
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