permanent resident living abroad frustration

[labalou]

Hi Folks,
i have a very frustrating situation: i lived almost 20 years in the states,studied,own a house and pay property taxes every year.Back then i met my present wife who happens to be german and came to Germany with the intentions of staying one year,learning my wifes culture and the lenguage.Then she got preagned and wanted to have my kids here because of all the benefits she is entitled to.
Just when i was prepearing to apply for my citizenship which i was entitled to the 9/11 tragedy occured and things got complicated with my application and my wife not wanting to live in the U.S. and to top it all off i was harrased by a very ignorant officer in Atlanta as we were visitng home, who claimed i had left my residence which caused me problems every time i entered the country.
Then i was told i should get a reentry permit if i wanted to keep my green card eventhough i pay property taxes through my home, and even income taxes through my recent international business i have opened about 2 years ago.
Everytime i come into to the states i am told to just apply for my citizenship to avoid all this hassle,which is exactly what ive done but i get no response and when i visited the INS last year i was told i had to live in the US without leaving the country for 5 years again to build up my resident status again before applying for my citizenship! i find this absurd and ridiculous and this whole situation is causing me so much headaches that i am thinking about giving up on the greencard!
IUf you have any tips i would really appreciate it,i really dont know what i should do anymore.
thanx
Louie

 

[spartakus]

This makes sense Loui

Hi Loui,

It does not matter if you are paying taxes and you are living outside the US. To be a Permanent Resident you have to reside in the US permanently. so what is happening at POEs is normal and they should do it. I do not see anything ridiculus or wrong with that, it is the law.

 

[baikal3]

Hi Folks,
i have a very frustrating situation: i lived almost 20 years in the states,studied,own a house and pay property taxes every year.Back then i met my present wife who happens to be german and came to Germany with the intentions of staying one year,learning my wifes culture and the lenguage.Then she got preagned and wanted to have my kids here because of all the benefits she is entitled to.
Just when i was prepearing to apply for my citizenship which i was entitled to the 9/11 tragedy occured and things got complicated with my application and my wife not wanting to live in the U.S. and to top it all off i was harrased by a very ignorant officer in Atlanta as we were visitng home, who claimed i had left my residence which caused me problems every time i entered the country.
Then i was told i should get a reentry permit if i wanted to keep my green card eventhough i pay property taxes through my home, and even income taxes through my recent international business i have opened about 2 years ago.
Everytime i come into to the states i am told to just apply for my citizenship to avoid all this hassle,which is exactly what ive done but i get no response and when i visited the INS last year i was told i had to live in the US without leaving the country for 5 years again to build up my resident status again before applying for my citizenship! i find this absurd and ridiculous and this whole situation is causing me so much headaches that i am thinking about giving up on the greencard!
IUf you have any tips i would really appreciate it,i really dont know what i should do anymore.
thanx
Louie

Spartakus is correct. Before blaming an "ignorant officer in Atlanta", you should educate yourself a bit. There are two separate sets of rules: one regarding maintaining a U.S. permanent resident status and another regarding eligibility for naturalization.

All of this info as available at the USCIS website (and in other places, just do a google search) and you should start by learning about these rules.

For maintaining PR status see:

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/PermRes.htm

http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/retain-greencard.html

For citizenship eligibility and application process read "A Guide to Naturalization"

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/services/natz/guide.htm

To maintain the PR status your primary place of work and residence must be in the U.S. In general it is not enough to live abroad, but own a house in the U.S. and visit it occasionally.

You are also required every year to file a U.S. resident individual income tax return, on your woldwide income. (It is not sufficient to file a business income tax return for a U.S. business that you own).

To apply for naturalization, the two basic requirements are continuous presence and physical presence.

The continuous presence requirement basically (there are some exceptions) says that during the 5 year period prior to applying for naturalization you must not have taken any trip outside of the U.S. that lasted more than 6 months.

The physical presence requirement basically says that during the 5 year period prior to applying for citizenship you must have been present in the U.S. for at least 30 months.


It is not clear from your post how this applies to you. For example, did you have any absences from the U.S. that lasted longer than 6 months at a time? If yes, when was the last such absence? In general you are required to wait five years after the last such absence before applying for citizenship. You may think that it is "absurd and ridiculous" but this is the law and has been the law for a few decades. You should have educated yourself about these matters earlier.


You need to provide more info about your situation if you want a more specific opinion.

 

[Superstring]

I would agree with Spartakus and baikal. Please review carefully posted documents.

I think that INS (btw, it is called USCIS these days) did their job reasonable and well in your case. It does seem that you (1) abandoned permanent residency and (2) break-up physical/conditional residency requirements for US citizenship.

Unfortunatelly, the fact that you did this while obviously being ignorant about the immigration laws does not count or help you at all. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Frankly, you took laws a bit lightly and you were behavng like you were defacto US citizen. US Resident might feel like citizen, but IT IS NOT.

Think about this also --- Why keeping green card if you have no intentions living in US? You can come as visitor if you need to see your family.

If I were you, I would talk to an immigration lawyer and see what could be done at this point. Based on the exact facts of your case, the lawyer will be able to suggest viable next steps.

Good luck!

P.S: I'm not a lawyer or an immigration expert. This is not a legal advice and you are soley responsible for your actions.

 

[labalou]

Thanx folks for all of your replies,excuse me if i sound iiritated but it has been nothing but that since ive been living in both places.
So from all of your responses it sounds like i am going toi have to give up my green card in order to have peace and the freedom to stay anywhere as long as i please without hassles, special permits and paying fees,correct?as a permanent resident ive done everything by the book,flying home every eight months,every 2 years updating my reentry permit and paid its fee,applied for my citizenship,done all the fingerprinting and form filling required and paid its fees,filed taxes through my international business and property taxes through my home in california, stayed never longer than a year every year,submited greencard applications for my wife and my children etc.
Instead i haven´t gotten any replies from the uscis department and been treated sometimes like a criminal including my wife and kids when i fly into the country.This was due as i later found out when i finally filed a complaint because of this one officer(or idiot for a lack of a better term) in atlanta who entered in the computer that i have left my residence.In secondary inspection he was almost in a screaming manner saying to me i was abandoning my residence and was going to take my greencard away.He off course didnt like it when i showed him my reentry permit and told him that i wasn´t deaf and he didnt have to scream at me that way.When he threatened me once again to take it away i said go ahead if this is the way a respectable U.S. resident is going to get treated everytime.Then off course he made sure to enter information in the system which would cause me problems everytime i cross the border.
Yes, i was ignorant of the exact laws concerning my present situation because i never planed it to be this way nor can i force my wife to come to live to the U.S. specially the way things have been going overthere lately.But i do find it ridiculous that certain naturalized citizens out there can´t even speak the language and i lived there for 20 years,got a degree,own a home and been doing everything to preserve my residence while being outside and still get this sort of treatment.It it obvious to me that this is due to plain burocracy because they are not able to review my case logically and naturalize me which they had initially offered me and would solve this problem.At the inmigration office all they said is " if u dont get any response go ahead and reapply again and we will let you know" not much hope in that is there...
cheers
Louie

 

[Superstring]

Thanx folks for all of your replies,excuse me if i sound iiritated but it has been nothing but that since ive been living in both places.

No problem, labalou. It is quite obvious that living in between two countries that are really far apart must be challenging.

]So from all of your responses it sounds like i am going toi have to give up my green card in order to have peace and the freedom to stay anywhere as long as i please without hassles, special permits and paying fees,correct?

While it is quite indicative that you gave up your residence, it does not mean that you could not regain it with the help of good lawyers.

People do all sorts of mistakes (really stupid one), and they can recover.

If I were you, I would not make my decision based on “hassle” (you are way too much Americanized ), but on what you really want in your life.

I have to tell you that “no hassle” would stop me of doing what is right for me.

So, make up your mind where you want to live and do what you need to do in order to fulfill that goal.

While people on this forum are generally generous with good intentions and know lot of things from the general perspective, they (including me) are not expert in many details that good lawyer might spot.

To begin with…why do not you ask for a brief consultation (it should not cost too much) and based on the exact circumstances, you will know your options more clearly. They will know the right questions to ask you.

I have a feeling that you are making your decision very much on “impulse” and that can potentially lead you to a lot of trouble.

Take a breath….and do what is right.

As a minor point, Germany does not allow dual citizenship.

as a permanent resident ive done everything by the book,flying home every eight months

Now….you sound like a German

While technicality can be helpful in continental European legal system, it is not helpful in Anglo-Saxon system. Courts, judges and immigration officers are not looking to see that you merely technically entered your country every now and then, but that you live there de facto.

The most famous court case on this issue is “Mater of Kane”, where courts denied permanent residency to an asian immigrant who was coming to US to “technically” preserve her residency (once or twice a year).

BTW, coming every eight months is:

(1) outright suspicious for any IO officer and would invite further scrutiny (particularly after 9/11) regarding your “real” residency.

(2) at minimum breaks continuous residency required for US citizenship and possibly permanent residency.

every 2 years updating my reentry permit and paid its fee

That is good if you had re-entry permit with you ALL the time. Then, you might of preserved your residency. But, who knows? It is unclear from you story when you had it, when you entered with it etc. That’s why, good lawyer can take this things into consideration and figure out the best outcome for you.

BTW, even if you had re-entry permit that would not help with your citizenship case….you will have to wait most probably some more time.

applied for my citizenship,done all the fingerprinting and form filling required and paid its fees

Anyone can apply for citizenship, pay fees etc. The question is KNOWING that you are entitled to certain benefits.

And obviously at minimum you’ve broken continuous residency and possibly even physical presence requirement needed for US citizenship

Burden of proof is on you. NOTHING COMES AUTOMATIC, and USCIS is no Santa Clause.

filed taxes through my international business and property taxes through my home in california, stayed never longer than a year every year,submited greencard applications for my wife and my children etc.

You must file corporate taxes if your business is incorporated in US, regardless of your nationality.

Since you were U.S. resident, you had to also pay/file U.S. Income Taxes on your worldwide income (regardless if you earned in Germany, France or China) coming from any sources. If you did not file&pay personal income tax, you are in trouble (for US citizenship and potentially with IRS).

Submitting applications for the green card for your wife and kids is good for you, but that proves nothing and counts for nothing except for the fact that you are looking for more immigration benefits.

FYI: While you can sponsor family as a permanent resident, your family has relativelly low priority in receiving green cards. The highest priority is given to direct family of US citizens.

Instead i haven´t gotten any replies from the uscis department

Why they should reply you and for what?

They are processing cases and yours will be processed when it is due. USCIS is not your friend or lawyer. This is government agency overloaded with backlog of cases and inefficient processing system.

BTW, you have InfoPass and you can schedule an appointment with your local USCIS office and ask IO any question(s) about your case.

But, again, USCIS is not your representative, not your aunt, not your uncle. You need a lawyer or at minimum you need to educate yourself badly about the U.S. immigration laws.

Do you have any idea how long does it take to process citizenship cases that are 20x times cleaner and complete than yours?

It used to take 1-2 yrs for “normal” case to be processed for US citizenship. Now, it can take anywhere from 6months to 18 months depending on infamous name check process.

I’m sorry that your case is highly messy and frankly you are the one to blame for its health. Not USCIS not anyone else.

It is time for you to step up to the plate, take responsibility and do what is right for you.

and been treated sometimes like a criminal including my wife and kids when i fly into the country.

Going to 2nd inspection is not a criminal treatment and happens to a lot of ppl everyday. The different thing is detention.

Because, your case is messy, IO officer at POE did a right thing to send you to the secondary inspection. The primary officer can not waste his/her time with you since he/she has people in the line waiting behind your back.

And, again you are responsible for your actions that put you in this situation. That is price you pay for not knowing the laws.

I have no intention to defend IO officers, but in your case it seems that Atlanta officer was correct. You yourself said that you entered US. only every 8th-month to “technically” preserve residency. That does not work.

my present situation because i never planed it to be this way nor can i force my wife to come to live to the U.S. specially the way things have been going overthere lately.

You did not want this outcome, but you caused it with your actions.

It is frustrating situation but not surprising at all.

You believe in X either with good or bad reason, while reality is Y.

I do not think that “how are things going in US recently” has anything to do with your case. You were just not careful what you do and you made a bunch of (if I may) say stupid mistakes.

(Un)fortunately, US is highly egalitarian society and do not care about your background or likeability, but rather focus on your case facts.

I know that Italian immigration officers would be potentially more tolerable to people like you and say ok…...who cares…On the other hand, you are lucky, since Swiss officer will detain & deport you right away if you’ve broken some of their rules…..

But i do find it ridiculos that certain naturalized citizens out there can´t even speak the language and i lived there for 20 years,got a degree,own a home and been doing everything to preserve my residence while being outside and still get this sort of treatment.

Actually, I find that powerful.

It does not matter who you are….but what it matters is that when an immigration case is involved that you fulfill the requirements and follow the law. Not "technically", but truly.

And that is the way it should be.

I do not think that you did all possible to preserve your residence.

It it obvious to me that this is due to plain burocracy because they are not able to review my case logically and naturalize me which they had initially offered me and would solve this problem.

Bureaucracy is everywhere. Probably, Germany is the leading country by its famous bureaucratic system (including immigration office).

At least, America has fair and normal citizenship requirements as much as you can get it in the world these days. Comapred with majority of nations, US has very relaxed citizenship requirements.

There is nothing to review “logically” in your case. There is an immigration law and set of requirements that you must fulfill. It does not seem that you fulfill continuous/physical presence to begin with.

No one cares that you were in US. for 20 yrs if you do not fulfill ALL the requirements for citizenship.

For example, you can live in US for 30 yrs than leave it for 2 yrs and come back. Regardless of 30 yrs period, the number of years required for your citizenship will restart to zero upon return, and you will need another 5yrs to become eligible for citizenship.

Again, there is HUGE difference between resident and citizen. Citizens can travel back and forth and not loose citizenship, but residents can not.

You felt as citizen, although you were not actually, and you ASSUMED many things that were just not there in reality.

I am not buying your victim story and you shold not either. You know better and you can do better.

As a bus. person, you should accept your responsibility, learn from your mistakes, create new plan, strive more toward future, and stop blaming everything for your bad decisions.

If I were you, I would get professional lawyer's help.

Good luck!

P.S: I'm not a lawyer or an immigration expert. This is not a legal advice and you are soley responsible for your actions.

 

[labalou]

“impulse” [/U] and that can potentially lead you to a lot of trouble.
As you said, living in two places and trying to preserve my U.S. permanent residence has proven to be very complicated,costly and stressful every time i enter the country,which is pushing me to take the decision of giving up the greencard if there isnt any other solution.

Take a breath….and do what is right.
thank you ive been trying to do that for quite a while

As a minor point, Germany does not allow dual citizenship.
Yes my nationality does and remeber i am not an american citizen i am a resident.


While technicality can be helpful in continental European legal system, it is not helpful in Anglo-Saxon system. Courts, judges and immigration officers are not looking to see that you merely technically entered your country every now and then, but that you live there de facto.
The most famous court case on this issue is “Mater of Kane”, where courts denied permanent residency to an asian immigrant who was coming to US to “technically” preserve her residency (once or twice a year).


BTW, coming every eight months is:
(1) outright suspicious for any IO officer and would invite further scrutiny (particularly after 9/11) regarding your “real” residency.
(2) at minimum breaks continuous residency required for US citizenship and possibly permanent residency.
That is good if you had re-entry permit with you ALL the time. Then, you might of preserved your residency. But, who knows? It is unclear from you story when you had it, when you entered with it etc. That’s why, good lawyer can take this things into consideration and figure out the best outcome for you.
BTW, even if you had re-entry permit that would not help with your citizenship case….you will have to wait most probably some more time.


Why they should reply you and for what?
They are processing cases and yours will be processed when it is due. USCIS is not your friend or lawyer. This is government agency overloaded with backlog of cases and inefficient processing system.

BTW, you have InfoPass and you can schedule an appointment with your local USCIS office and ask IO any question(s) about your case.
Yes i have done this and posted what they told me.

But, again, USCIS is not your representative, not your aunt, not your uncle. You need a lawyer or at minimum you need to educate yourself badly about the U.S. immigration laws.

Do you have any idea how long does it take to process citizenship cases that are 20x times cleaner and complete than yours?
It used to take 1-2 yrs for “normal” case to be processed for US citizenship. Now, it can take anywhere from 6 months to 18 months depending on infamous name check process.
Well that in an inefficient proccesing system,in burocratic germany it takes less than a year.


Going to 2nd inspection is not a criminal treatment and happens to a lot of ppl everyday. The different thing is detention.

But screaming at somebody who has all legal documents is either criminal treatment or discriminating.

I have no intention to defend IO officers, but in your case it seems that Atlanta officer was correct. You yourself said that you entered US. only every 8th-month to “technically” preserve residency. That does not work.
so what is the reentry permit for?so if i have to stay away for long periods of time or lets say i was touring as a musician (which i also do) i do not have the freedom to do this because i am a U.S. resident?

I do not think that “how are things going in US recently” has anything to do with your case. You were just not careful what you do and you made a bunch of (if I may) say stupid mistakes.
Again you didnt read my post,"how things are going in the US recently" has to do with my wife not wanting to live in the U.S. at the moment.

(Un)fortunately, US is highly egalitarian society and do not care about your background or likeability, but rather focus on your case facts.
Well that goes to show that you are one of those who thinks everything in america is "democratic".America is not highly egalitarian and cares very much about your background specially when is composed of dollars.With enough money you can even buy a citizenship!

I know that Italian immigration officers would be potentially more tolerable to people like you and say ok…...who cares…On the other hand, you are lucky, since Swiss officer will detain & deport you right away if you’ve broken some of their rules…..



Actually, I find that powerful.

It does not matter who you are….but what it matters is that when an immigration case is involved that you fulfill the requirements and follow the law. Not "technically", but truly.

And that is the way it should be.

I do not think that you did all possible to preserve your residence.



Bureaucracy is everywhere. Probably, Germany is the leading country by its famous bureaucratic system (including immigration office).

At least, America has fair and normal citizenship requirements as much as you can get it in the world these days. Comapred with majority of nations, US has very relaxed citizenship requirements.

There is nothing to review “logically” in your case. There is an immigration law and set of requirements that you must fulfill. It does not seem that you fulfill continuous/physical presence to begin with.

No one cares that you were in US. for 20 yrs if you do not fulfill ALL the requirements for citizenship.

For example, you can live in US for 30 yrs than leave it for 2 yrs and come back. Regardless of 30 yrs period, the number of years required for your citizenship will restart to zero upon return, and you will need another 5yrs to become eligible for citizenship.

Again, there is HUGE difference between resident and citizen. Citizens can travel back and forth and not loose citizenship, but residents can not.

You felt as citizen, although you were not actually, and you ASSUMED many things that were just not there in reality.

I am not buying your victim story and you shold not either. You know better and you can do better.

As a bus. person, you should accept your responsibility, learn from your mistakes, create new plan, strive more toward future, and stop blaming everything for your bad decisions.

If I were you, I would get professional lawyer's help.

Good luck!

P.S: I'm not a lawyer or an immigration expert. This is not a legal advice and you are soley responsible for your actions.

 

[namedude]

Have you considered the following scenario - maybe it is not right for you though.

- You own a house or at least have a residence here in the US.
- You make sure to be physically present in any given year for more than 6 months at a time. Maybe 7 months in and 4 months out.
- You have business here, pay taxes here in the US.
- While away you get employed by US business
- You have other stuff like credit cards, bank accounts etc.

I am almost sure it would be very hard for INS to take away your GC in such a scenario. After 5 years of doing this - you get US citizenship. And at that time you can sell your house, belongings and go to Germany or wherever. You will have complete freedom.

If you had reentry permit at all times when you entered - I wonder why would INS officer give you so much hardship? Was your trip to Germany temporary in nature?

Disclaimer:
I am not a lawyer and this is not reliable advice.

 

[Superstring]

Labalou, it is very hard to read and understand your replies. First of all, my apologizes if I misunderstood something or did not read it well. Also, I do not want to sound beating on you or something…that is not my intention and appologizes if that is how it feels. I want all the best for you and just want you to wake up!

Few points:

1) During my whole history with USICS, I have never ever found an IO officer screaming at me or anything close to that. And there were situations where USCIS was wrong (for example, had my A# number wrong). Maybe it is my character or something….do not know. Actually, I witnessed quite opposite. While I was few times in line at INS, I’ve seen some ppl screaming at officers and/or staff for what it seems no apparent reason and obvious misunderstanding. I have to tell you that I admire these folks at INS working with such ppl and listening despite them being unruly. I would myself kick such people out of the office right away until they start behaving normally.

2) Obviously, re-entry permit breaks continuous residence. Your naturalization has to wait another 5 yrs since you re-establish your residency again.

3) Yes, you did a number of stupid mistakes. And it is sad that you did not realize them. Just some of them….

First of all I’m not sure when did you use your re-entry permit and how…sorry…can not follow your writing. But, let’s say that you even used it correctly….that does not help again in terms of what you want to do (gain citizenship).

- You needed to file an application to “preserve your residency for the purpose of citizenship” if you had an intention to do naturalization any time soon.

- Should I say that you could have applied for your citizenship a long long time ago and get over with it! What you were waiting for?

- Actually, if you knew that you were going to Germany, you could of made plan to get your citizenship then and work hard to keep your residency in US during the application process. If you had some patience, you could make that work since you could of done that in 9mos.

4) I am not sure if you talked to a good lawyers or just anyone. However, it does make sense that you will have to wait another 5yrs in order to get your citizenship AFTER you re-establish residency in US.

Your real problem is how to re-establish residency since you interrupted it. Maybe you did that and now USCIS information system shows that you are resident again. Maybe you did nothing and system still shows that you are not resident. Do not know. That is what lawyers can help you.

5)

No, i havent given up my residence is quite indicative that you didn´t read my mail i said i am thinking about giving it up my greencard but i am still a permanent resident trying to become naturalized.

You said:

because of this one officer in atlanta who entered in the computer that i have left my residence

Yes, i was ignorant of the exact laws concerning my present situation

When I said that you abandoned residency, I did not imply that you did that verbally by saying or returning green card. You did this by your actions, and you confirmed that IO officer told you so. IO Officers have power to determine that regardless of your liking or disliking it. Ok?

6)

i consider screaming at somebody telling him he has left his residence who has obtained a reentry permit for that very purpose and hasn´t stayed longer that a year abroad plain stupidity.

Again, you do not understand the law.

There is no automatic rule to re-admit permanent resident by just showing re-entry permit. Where did you get that idea????

So, in accordance with your story, officer just started to “scream” at you out of nowhere while you were peacefully talking about bird-watching…..come on……get real….you were ignorant about your situation, probably arrogant because you though you were 100% right, and you irritated IO…..because ppl just do not “scream” for no reason particularly when they work on such sensitive places as USCIS in post 9-11 world. OK?

IO Officer is each time accepting returning resident back to US. Resident can be denied entrance. Even with re-entry permit. Ok?

You still have to show that you intended to return to US for PERMANENT RESIDENCY and that your trip was only temporary in nature. It seems that Altanta officer did not believe that your trip was temporary at all and he had a good reason (your family in Germany, your job in Germany…..it looked like you were just visiting, not coming back home). And he has right to determine your status and this is quite legal and it is not stupid. Certainly, you have right to dispute that via court system. Did you even consider this option? Another mistake you did.

Of course two IO officers can have differing opinions, but that is irrelevant since only ONE officer is making determination at POE or secondary inspection. When you finish process with this one, you have a decision (allowed to enter or not and in what capacity). Then, you can take it from there and try to overturn it.....there is a process for that.

The only purpose of re-entry permit is to show “some” intent of you coming back to US and not to re-assure your automatic admittance to US.

quite simple:freedom.I want to get naturalized so that i can live anywhere i please in the world and come back to my home in the US without problems and live there again with my family if i feel like it in the future

So, you needed to do some different steps than you did.

Well that goes to show that you are one of those who thinks everything in america is "democratic".America is not highly egalitarian and cares very much about your background specially when is composed of dollars.With enough money you can even buy a citizenship!

I do not think that democracy exists anywhere, since that is pure fiction. But, I do certainly believe that you will get the most of “democracy” in US. You will not be able to mention that many.

So, if that is the case…why do not you just pay and get the citizenship right away? Can you advise me how this is possible? Or it was just an add in some yellow tabloid magazine.

Wish you all the best….When you stop feeling like a victim, you will figure out next steps.

Good luck!

P.S: I'm not a lawyer or an immigration expert. This is not a legal advice and you are soley responsible for your actions.

 

[labalou]

Labalou, it is very hard to read and understand your replies. First of all, my apologizes if I misunderstood something or did not read it well. Also, I do not want to sound beating on you or something…that is not my intention and appologizes if that is how it feels. I want all the best for you and just want you to wake up!

No problem Superstring,is just that most of your replies concentrate mostly about my stupid mistakes without solutions.This is pretty pointless bacause i am aware of the them and i came to this forum looking for possible solutions.So here are the facts to make myself more clear:
I came to germany with the intention of staying 3 months and going back to california.Then i was granted a loan to study the lenguage and did a 5 month intensive course.Went back to california after about a year without a reentry permit with simple proof of studying abroad without any problems.
Since my wife had a great job here, she wanted to go back to Ca. but with a working permit so she started to apply through her job to work abroad.The she got pregned and plans changed.Obviously going back to Ca.without a job pregned was out of the question,specially having such great benefits and job security here in Germany.So i extended my studies and started a multimedia course with a student visa.All of this time i was staying in germany no longer than a year which i was informed was perfectly ok and realizing how our situation was going i responded to my naturalization invitation by applying for it.Then they sent me an appointment to be sworn in november which was the month my wife was suppose to give birth,so i sent them a letter requesting a change of appointment.
Then i found out about the reentry permit because obviously now i needed to stay longer than a year and applied for it.This is in fact as you said my first mistake because if i knew now what i didnt know then i could have stayed longer without applying for it and entered through Mexico or cananda for example ,since there is no stamp in your pass to know when you are coming into the country from abroad.
So their first confusion for them i think strted here ; a resident applying to be naturalized is also applying for a reentry permit.I read that in applying for naturalization you have to be present in the country but i had a reentry pass so i didnt see this as a problem.As i said i was trying to do everything correctly as they say.
Then the 9/11 issue came and didnt hear from the USCIS deparment to see how my case was going.This was also the time i flew through Atlanta which was a 20 hour nightmare plus being sent to secondary inspection with kids and wife and waiting almost an hour before this wonderful offcer with a cowboy hat greeted me and ask me to explain my situation.As i was explaining calmly and respectfully(by the way i am of a peaceful nature) he kept interrupting me saying loud "so you have left your residence and you are misusing a priviledge we have offered you,yeah? answer the question!!" this is when i finally had it and gave him my greencard and told him he could have it but i didnt deserve such treatment.
Finally in california coming from mexico they sent me once to secondary inspection and made me wait for almost an hour where you werent allowed to look anywhere else but a wall in front of you.If u did the officers would scream at you and say "look up front".Now if this isn´t criminal treatment for you then i understand why you cant understand what i am saying.When it was my turn to be inspected i demanded they tell me what the problem was and they said "well u tell us here in the system it says u have abandoned your residence",upon explaining them my situation they requested to see my reentry permit and they erased the info. in the computer.After that i havent been treated like that.

Few points:

1) During my whole history with USICS, I have never ever found an IO officer screaming at me or anything close to that. And there were situations where USCIS was wrong (for example, had my A# number wrong). Maybe it is my character or something….do not know. Actually, I witnessed quite opposite. While I was few times in line at INS, I’ve seen some ppl screaming at officers and/or staff for what it seems no apparent reason and obvious misunderstanding. I have to tell you that I admire these folks at INS working with such ppl and listening despite them being unruly. I would myself kick such people out of the office right away until they start behaving normally.

Just curious,are u a naturalized or U.S. citizen? have u every lived south of the border?aren´t u aware of the injustices,rapes,shootings etc.made by some of your fellow offcers to illegal alliens?

2) Obviously, re-entry permit breaks continuous residence. Your naturalization has to wait another 5 yrs since you re-establish your residency again.
3) Yes, you did a number of stupid mistakes. And it is sad that you did not realize them. Just some of them….
actually,this is what i was told i should do so its their mistake as well, my mistake was believing it not going into the internet and doing further research.
however, i still find this clause confusing:
You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:
Remain outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year


- You needed to file an application to “preserve your residency for the purpose of citizenship” if you had an intention to do naturalization any time soon.
Yes,this is form N-470, the question is if it would make a difference with my present situation.

So,perhaps i should do it by the law like u say which basically means "what u know they don´t know" and thats what counts,right? I for soem of the reasons ive explained cant come to the states to live 5 years for the sole purpose of qualifying again.Somehow i think my case is just missing something simple, so if you know a good lawyer let me know!

so scenarios:

-apply for form N-470 and see if it helps my naturalization proccess.
-not enter the country for 5 years so no entries are stamped in my pass, pay further taxes through my international business, reapply for my citizenship and enter through a neigbor country to be sworn.
second:
-apply for my german citizenship which they have also offered me here and enter as a german citizen instead of as a resident to restablish residence.
third:
Give up the greencard all together sell everything i got overthere and forget life in the states and enter as a tourist .
any other suggestion??
cheers