seeking information..

[immigrant123456]

Hello guys,
I got immigration visa through lotterry,, and planning to move to US soon,, my visa expires in december..

I am planning to go to US for less than a month to recieve the green card, with my family (wife and 2 boys) and then to go back to my home country to finish my work here...which might take some time

my question is:
is it ok to leave US after entering in less than 1 month???
lets say I managed to come back and settle in US within less than 1 year... will it be ok ?? I mean will it affect my green card status??


please advise me,, and thank you very much

 

[Hannah7]

Less than one month is not enough time to "establish residence", but technically you're free to travel and come back within one year. But to be on the safe side you should either apply for re-entry permit and stay outside up to 2 years or come back in 6 months.

I'm usually asking questions than giving answers. From what I know, nobody had problem when going out longtime for the 1st time, but you should be ready to prove after that trip that you already finished the work and made all preparations to move to the U.S. permanently.

 

[Jackolantern]

my question is:
is it ok to leave US after entering in less than 1 month???

It is OK as far as keeping the green card is concerned, but doing that could delay your eligibility for citizenship, as they might start counting your 5 years when you came back to the US to settle down for good, rather than when you first set foot on US soil with the immigrant visa.

lets say I managed to come back and settle in US within less than 1 year... will it be ok ?? I mean will it affect my green card status??

Staying outside the US for 1 year or more will void your green card if you don't have a reentry permit. So if you think you could be gone for close to a year, apply for the reentry permit so if anything pushes your time abroad beyond a year you can still return smoothly.

You need to be in the US when the reentry permit is submitted (including when USCIS receives it), and you need to be in the US to show up for the reentry permit fingerprinting, about a month after you send the application.

 

[immigrant123456]

thank you for the answers.
so if I enter USA in august and leave after 1 month, I have to come back within 6 months maximum , so I dont break the continous residency which I will need for citizinship,
and they ll start counting since the day I set foot on US soil the first time,, right???

 

[Jackolantern]

thank you for the answers.
so if I enter USA in august and leave after 1 month, I have to come back within 6 months maximum , so I dont break the continous residency which I will need for citizinship,
and they ll start counting since the day I set foot on US soil the first time,, right???

No, I said they might NOT start counting from the first day you set foot on US soil, if you stayed in the US for a very short time after your initial entry as a permanent resident and then you left on an extended trip overseas. If they don't count that initial 1 month as being good enough to establish residence, they'll start counting the 5 years from some later date when you really began to properly reside in the US.