- Thread starter windeguy
- Start date
Obtaining & maintaining US permanent residency.
No we live here. she since birth . me I traveled back and forth every month to usa until I retired here.
She will probably not be able to maintain US residency. For US residency it is a requirement she live in the US.
Been there, done that for her, she lost it, etc...
we know all about the requirements and we are fine, don't worry hahaha but thanks for the consideration.
We have a client that goes to the USA every three or four months to maintain her residency. Our plumber also just got his green card, so off he goes next month.
I'm pretty sure that to maintain it you need to be in the US one more than half of the days in the year. So I guess that would be 183 days and 184 on leap year. This is hearsay from a permanent resident person who travelled a lot and consulted an immigration lawyer.
That used to work better than it does now. If they detect those frequent trips, they will pull his residency. Been there, done that, residency lost.
That will probably work to maintain residency. Any less time than that puts residency at risk.
The US has really cracked down on this. My brother & sister-in-laws had to give up their residency [in exchange for a 10 year visa], but so far their son has held on to his. He comes to the US a couple of times a year, a month or two each time. Last time they took him into an office and explained the 6 month rule, so we will see how long he hangs on to it.
Normally such an office meeting triggers a hearing where you lose your residency. My advice for their son is to do the same thing and turn in his residency for a 10 year visitor's visa if he receives any information about an official hearing.
I agree, but he's young enough that he's considering actually living in US one day. His parents have a good life in SD, they'd never move, so it was definitely the right thing for them to do.
I wonder how hard it is to reclaim residency if you give it up.
For the young man, it is up the USCIS what they will do. They should by law remove his residency.
If you give up residency for a 10 year visitor's visa, then you would need to be sponsored again. I know this from first hand experience.
Ugh. If I remember correctly, it took about 8-9 years - back in the 80s - to get them the residency to begin with. I could be dead before they'd get approved again :cheeky:
I spoke with my attorney at length about this. While a green card holder is not permitted to be out of the country for more than 6 months, the trips must be "temporary in nature" as determined by the USCIS. A green card holder cannot leave the US for 5 months and come back to the US for a short stay and leave the country again. Also, frequent trips out of the US will draw the attention of USCIS and, in both cases, you will lose your green card.
the info is all on the net USCIS
https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence
https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence
My wife being a green card holder and I travel the Caribbean on our boat checking in and out of different countries all of the time. We have never had an issue with USCIS, and most on here know that we have been doing this for years. The one simple thing that allows us to do this unmolested is that our US address which is a St Thomas mailing address never changes. It is on all of our paperwork checking into and out of all countries as well as checking into and out of the USA. What raises the Red Flag is inconsistency. Keep your story straight and the same when answering questions upon check in, and the same mailing address. Simple.
Age and Marital Status also matter for offspring:
https://www.uscis.gov/family/family...ghters-live-united-states-permanent-residents
You have simply been lucky to this point. The same mailing address and answering questions were of no use to my wife and step daughter keeping their green cards.