Retaining Green Card for parents

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kuchchbhee

Registered Users (C)
My parents got the green card and they stayed with me for little less than a year before they went back to india for couple of months visit. My dad fell sick in India and now their plans to travel back to US is up in the air.

Now they prefer to stay in India and never return since they have better (affordable) healthcare in India. I am thinking long term, that if something happens to my dad and my mom is left alone, she definitely cannot live alone on her own in India. So, my real question is, how can they retain their green card so that in future, (1 year from now, or 2 to 3 years from now) i have to move my mom to finally live with me permanently. I understand that they need to live more than 6 months/year in US... but is that to get '5 year permanent resident status' for citizenship? I am also heard that the GC can be retained if they made a trip to US every year, even if it is a very short week long trip.

thankyou
 
How long ago did they leave the US?

I am also heard that the GC can be retained if they made a trip to US every year, even if it is a very short week long trip.
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Yes, it can be maintained by going back to the US within a year (i.e. don't stay outside the US for 12 consecutive months), but after 2 or 3 years of spending 11+ months per year outside the US, the immigration officer at the port of entry is likely to give them a warning, and long trips after that warning could result in GC revocation.

Obtaining a reentry permit would allow staying outside the US for 2 years, but applying for that requires being in the US.
 
they left in mid september 2011

Jackolantern said:
How long ago did they leave the US?
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I am asking them to return before they complete 6 mos in march. But it seems i might only be able to convince them to come and make a short 2 month long trip.

Again, my intention here to retain Green Card is to keep my mom's option open in future to live here forever. We have no immediate motivation to 'achieve' citizenship status. And i realize those are two seperate issues with seperate requirements in terms of number of days spent in US per year.

thankyou for response.
 
kuchchbhee said:
I am asking them to return before they complete 6 mos in march. But it seems i might only be able to convince them to come and make a short 2 month long trip.
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2 months is good. Many people in a similar situation only stay for 2 weeks before leaving again.

During those 2 months they can apply for the reentry permits (a separate one for each). It requires being in the US when the application is submitted, and again about 3-5 weeks later for fingerprinting. They can leave the US in between the day USCIS receives the application and the fingerprint appointment.

After fingerprinting they can leave the US again, and some months later the permit will be delivered either to their US address (your house?) or to a US consulate where they can pick it up.

We have no immediate motivation to 'achieve' citizenship status. And i realize those are two seperate issues with seperate requirements in terms of number of days spent in US per year.
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Yes, the requirements for time spent in the US to qualify for citizenship are more strict than for maintaining the green card. Having a reentry permit or entering the US once every 11 months is normally good enough to keep the green card alive for 2-3 years, but not for building eligibility for citizenship.
 
Normally, an LPR can get a two year REP, and then a second two year REP, a third REP might be denied outright or issued for only one year.
 
I have cousins that won their GC on DV lottery. It was 6 or 7 years ago. They are still maintaining it by coming every year but each time in the past few years they have more and more problems. if you could have your mother in the US every 6 months would be better.
 
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