New Green Card Amendment???

[GCAspirant0104]

I heard that there is a new green card amendment regarding the minimum stay required in USA for the green card holders, and according to the new amendment the green card holder can not stay outside the USA more than 6 months as opposed to the 1 year limit. I want to confirm this news. Has anyone heard about it?

 

[LucyMO]

you may want to start with www.uscis.gov

 

[boatbod]

I heard that there is a new green card amendment regarding the minimum stay required in USA for the green card holders, and according to the new amendment the green card holder can not stay outside the USA more than 6 months as opposed to the 1 year limit. I want to confirm this news. Has anyone heard about it?

1. After 1 year outside the US, a person without a valid reentry permit is considered to have abandoned their residency. (i.e. LPR/GC is revoked)

2. After 6 months outside the US, a person is presumed to have broken their continuous residency for naturalization purposes, unless they can prove otherwise.

3. At any time, a person may be judged to have abandoned their residency based on actions prior to, or while abroad, and may be denied reentry to the US. (i.e. if you sell your house and relocate all your possessions abroad, you may well be judged to have abandoned your residency the moment you leave the US, regardless of time frame.)

As you can see, nothing is particularly clear-cut when it comes to residency. Naturalization requirements present a somewhat special case, and are generally enforced more rigorously than those for GC retention. I would however caution you that simply "visiting" the US every 6 or 12 months (while living abroad) is generally considered insufficient to maintain residency.