Usa Green Card, Visa Or What

[Mike45]

My Thai wife and I are married and living in the USA. She came here on a K1 Visa. She has a two year green card and will need to apply for the ten year green card in June 2008.

We are planning on living in Thailand full-time. We are concerned that if we leave the USA before she becomes a citizen that she may not be able to return to the USA with me to visit or for family emergencies.

I have read else where about one woman having her ten year green card taken away from her at the airport in the USA. She was asked by immigration where she lived and she identified a place outside the USA as her home. She had been out of the country for several years and she obviously wasn't living in the USA any longer...just visiting when she wanted to.

So what are our legal options?

[jimmym40]

You know how things can change. My understanding is that peope with a green card must actually live in the US 6 months or more during a year period to retain the green card. At least this is what a friend of mine was told just last year by an immigration officer at LA airport.

I guess your best bet would be to contact USA immigratin and get the correct scoop. It would be great if you would post what you've learned here also.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

You know how things can change. My understanding is that peope with a green card must actually live in the US 6 months or more during a year period to retain the green card. At least this is what a friend of mine was told just last year by an immigration officer at LA airport.

I guess your best bet would be to contact USA immigratin and get the correct scoop. It would be great if you would post what you've learned here also.

I'm not at all sure that there is a minimum amount of time that a Green Card holder needs to spend in the U.S. to retain the status of "Pemanent Resident Alien," or PRA.

The "permanent" portion of that phrase does pretty well indicate permanent, tho.

That's one major reason my wife doesn't have a Green Card as it would commit her/us to travel back to the U.S. every one or two (with a Re-Entry Permit) years.  She's on her 2nd 10-year B1/B2 visa now, much handier.

So, if a Green Card holder wants to sort of permanently reside in Thailand it might just be worth while to stay in the U.S. a sufficient amount of time to apply for U.S. citizenship before coming back to live.

The other option is, of course, to stay here on the Green Card and risk losing that status on a visit to the U.S.  Perhaps not a big thing as you can always apply for an Immigrant Visa again in the future, with all the attendent hassle of paperwork and cost.

Mac

[lopburi3]

If she is not planning on obtaining citizenship he does not need a green card to visit the US - a ten year tourist visa would take care of that and that does not require any US residence time.

[jstumbo]

This is really tricky. You have two different government departments that are involved. You have US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) who issues the green card and just works with immigrants in the US and the US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) who actually decides who comes into the US and mans the booths when you try to enter the country.

USCIS says that as long as you do not spend more than 1 year out of the country without returning, or 2 years if you file for a re-entry permit, you will not lose your greencard. USCBP can decide at the border when you are trying to enter that you are not living in the US, and are just using your greencard to visit, they can take it away.

When I mentioned to USCBP that USCIS said that you just had to return within one year, they said that the USCIS did not know what they were talking about. When I then told the USCIS about what the USCBP said, they said that the USCBP did not know what they were talking about.

So, I guess if you are out more than one year, USCIS may take it away. If the USCBP think that you are just using it as a way to go to the US, instead of having a visa, then they may take it away when you try to enter the country.

Make sure your wife files income tax returns in the US each year. Even if she does not have any income. Also, make sure that she does not take any exemptions for not being resident in the US, as that could show that she is not a resident anymore.

[jstumbo]

If she is not planning on obtaining citizenship he does not need a green card to visit the US - a ten year tourist visa would take care of that and that does not require any US residence time.

Only problem might be getting a 10 year tourist visa. From what I hear it is not easy for a Thai person to get one.

Maybe if you are married to a US citizen it might be easier, then again it might be harder, because they might feel that you will stay illegally, because you have a citizen as a spouse.

Also, if she already has a greencard and she gives it up, maybe they will be more likely to give her a long term visa, since if she wanted to stay in the country, she would not have to do it illegally, because she had a greencard.

It is all just so confusing. Best to maybe check with the US embassy and see how hard it would be to get a long term visa if she currently has a greencard, but you are planning on living in Thailand.

[lopburi3]

In this case she is married. And it is not hard to obtain a tourist visa. And the fact she had a green card and chose to return it will be totally positive for issue of a tourist visa. My wife has such a visa - we made application for immigrant visa originally but after approval decided to remain in Thailand. That proof of application/approval and change of mind was immediate deciding factor (although am sure it would have been approved in any case). Those in first weeks/months of marriage and without ties to Thailand are those who may have initial problems obtaining a tourist visa as the suspicions will be that they are trying to circumvent the normal immigrant visa delays and obtain a change of status after arrival in the US. Those with valid marriage and reasons should not have much trouble.

[TypicalAnonym]

If you can, stay in the US for another year and apply for citizenship. After she gets citizenship, this whole issue goes away.

If she's not living in the US, then as soon as someone catches on she will lose the green card.

[sbk]

It is better to surrender the green card than to just let it expire. That shows good faith in dealing with the govt and will make getting a tourist visa much easier to obtain in the future.

[kitwit]

My Thai wife and I are married and living in the USA. She came here on a K1 Visa. She has a two year green card and will need to apply for the ten year green card in June 2008.

We are planning on living in Thailand full-time. We are concerned that if we leave the USA before she becomes a citizen that she may not be able to return to the USA with me to visit or for family emergencies.

I have read else where about one woman having her ten year green card taken away from her at the airport in the USA. She was asked by immigration where she lived and she identified a place outside the USA as her home. She had been out of the country for several years and she obviously wasn't living in the USA any longer...just visiting when she wanted to.

So what are our legal options?

[kitwit]

Having recently received a surprise visit from my ex-wife, waiting on my front porch after arriving from Japan after 364 days out of the country and surviving a narrow escape from US Immigration, I believe, from her account, green cards are confiscated after not residing in country for one year or more.

[eastbaybob]

My wife was spending lots of time in Thailand for a few years there. After ten or eleven months in Thailand she'd come back to the States for a month or two then go back. She never had any problem coming back, she was sent to secondary once, after 11 months out, but it was quick and painless.

If your wife isn't going to live in the US she doesn't need a green card. She can get a tourist visa without worries and then there will not be any of the worry about keeping the green card.

[thaihome]

Having recently received a surprise visit from my ex-wife, waiting on my front porch after arriving from Japan after 364 days out of the country and surviving a narrow escape from US Immigration, I believe, from her account, green cards are confiscated after not residing in country for one year or more.

Unless you get the re-entry permit.

TH

[Mike45]

Having recently received a surprise visit from my ex-wife, waiting on my front porch after arriving from Japan after 364 days out of the country and surviving a narrow escape from US Immigration, I believe, from her account, green cards are confiscated after not residing in country for one year or more.

Unless you get the re-entry permit.

TH

The re-entry permit is an excellent idea. I guess this way we will be notifying the US government that she will be out of the country for up to two years and that she is not abandoning her green card. Then it says she can apply for a new one after it expires.

I also like the other ten year visa that was mentioned.

[fredlaw]

1. if you are out of the US for over 1 year, without an advance parole, you can lose your green card when you try to reenter.

2. with the advance parole, filed before you leave the US you can stay out for 2 years

3. if married to a US citizen you can obtain citizenship at the 3 year mark but for any time out of the US over 6 months, most of the time you lived in the US does not count for the 3 year time period.

4. when you reenter the US and are ask where you live, if your answer is somewhere out of the US , yes, your "Green Card" can and in most cases will be taken.

5. if your Green Card" is taken you must then start the netire process over again, the same as the first time you applied.

6. i agree, homeland security( us immigration) and the state department (issues the visas) have no respect for each other and at times can be 100% oppsite of their answers. be careful

7 a 10 year visa is not automatic when you are married. both state and immigrations frown on a visa in lieu of a green card. if you are in the US and visit out of country and then reenter the US within just a few days, you may be denied a reentry using the 10 year visa. it's not really written in black and white about how long you must be out of the country but is up to the inspection officer when you try to re enter. the visa is much much cheaper and "uncle sam" wants all the money he can get. the visa is about $200.00 total and the green card is now about $2500.00 total.

8. i do this for a living so i keep pretty current

[thaihome]

1-2. I thought the "advance parole" was only for people on conditional green cards (issued when married less then 2 years) who wish to leave the US for short time. The re-entry permit is something different. See link in my earlier post.

3. You can file form N-470 to preserve your status as an immigrant in order to pursue naturalization (under certain conditions, usually employment).

4. Unless you have an approved N-470

5. Believe there is a form you can file at the consulate or local UCIS office to re-instate you permanent residence status, but can't find it right now, might be the I-191?

6. yep.

7. Agree, if actually living in the US, a tourist visa is a dangerous way to do so.

TH

[lopburi3]

We are planning on living in Thailand full-time.

We are concerned that if we leave the USA before she becomes a citizen that she may not be able to return to the USA with me to visit or for family emergencies.

In my opinion the posters wife would have no problem obtaining or using a 10 year tourist visa in such a case.

[jetjock]

If you can, stay in the US for another year and apply for citizenship. After she gets citizenship, this whole issue goes away.

If she's not living in the US, then as soon as someone catches on she will lose the green card.

I agree with TypicalAnonym. My best advice is for her to stay in the US (more than 6 months each year) so that she can qualify to get her US Citizenship as soon as the 3 years are up. After that she will be free to go almost anywhere in the world and stay as long as she wants back in Thailand. Honestly I find it hard to understand why anyone would play games with something as valuable to a Thai citizen as a US citizenship. The rules for obtaining a US citizenship are subject to change and the stakes are high so it is beyond me why would you take any chances. My wife has been here in the US for 2 years and I can assure you that I will make sure that she gets her US citizenship virtually to the day that the 3 year wait is up.