funkyab

HI!! I need some advice here.

My wife (conditional green card) and I work in International Development.
We recently got a new 2 year assignment with the United Nations in Nicaragua. We were considering getting a reentry permit. We realized that if you are a conditional resident the permit is only good until the conditional green card expires.
We will be leaving in mid May. This would mean that the reentry permit would expire before even one year has passed, and considering she can be outside of the U.S. legally on her green card for longer than the reentry permit is valid, it does not seem to make much sense to pay for one.

We will file our i-751 from Nicaragua and come back to the U.S. before the year out of the country is up.

1. Is there any reason for us to apply for an reentry permit in our situation?

2. When we file the i-751 and get the year extension, would it make sense then to file for a reentry permit, and would it likely be valid for 2 years or just until the end of the year extension or i-751 being approved?

3. Considering the type of work we do there is a good chance that depending on our assignments we might not be in the U.S. for more than a few weeks or a month each year, for the next 5 or 6 years.
As long as we enter at least once a year to keep her visa valid and have good evidence of our field assignments with the United Nations, should we anticipate any problems?

4. If we decided to go the route of reentry permits now or after i-751 is approved, might there be a limit on how many they would grant us? I know that this up to the discretion of the issuing officer, but I would think that special attention and consideration would be paid to folks in our situation, especially working for the UN.

5. I know that some people say that it is advisable to make sure to enter the U.S. at least once every 6 months but it seems like many of the people concerned about that are those that do not want to "reset" the clock for their naturalization, which is not a concern of ours.

Sorry for all the questions. I have actually talked to a USCIS officer (not the call center people) twice in the past two days and although they gave me good info, I am still not sure the best route for us to take.

dreamercon

It appears that your wife may be eligible to file for citizenship immediately without a residence requirement under INA 319b. I suggest you seriously look into that, then you won't have to worry about reentry permits and removing conditions.

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/105868.pdf

funkyab

I KNOW!!! Thanks for the reply!! That would be GREAT and a definite possibility, IF she was from a country that allowed dual nationality or was willing to give hers up. She is from Norway and there is no way she would give up that nationality.

I did talk with a DOS guy recently and he said that the DOS by no means has a policy of "tattle taleing" on matters such as this but it is just too big a risk, especially considering the organizations we work for..

So... back to square one with the question.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You ask very sophisticated questions -- which I believe are way beyond the scope of a simple forum answer. Let me put it this way, if you were to consult with me, I would insist on a 1/2 day meeting while we discussed things and I had my laptop at hand with WestLaw loaded. And charge accordingly.

As for the I-131 -- I feel it can't hurt -- it puts her on record as wanting to maintain LPR status.

funkyab

Thanks for the reply. And I understand from your rep that you would most definitely be someone I should talk to. PM will be sent.

When referring to the last post about the expedited citizenship, as I mentioned my wife is not willing to give up her Norwegian citizenship, however she has no problem giving up citizenship in Norway as long as she still had Scandinavian Citizenship.

We are again in an interesting situation. Sweden DOES allow dual nationality and because of the Nordic agreement, if she can demonstrate 2 years of residency she is eligible for citizenship, which if granted would allow her to also take US citizenship.

We have another interesting path available. I am a Swedish Citizen and acquired this citizenship through application as I lived there long enough legally to qualify. If my wife were to take US citizenship, and loose her Norwegian passport, we could again later apply for her Swedish citizenship based on our marriage.


You mention that these are complicated questions. I am VERY aware of this. My immigration affairs with my wife have been very complicated from the beginning when we filed i-130 DCF in Sweden and had to meet the qualifications even though that we had been living in 3 different countries in the months leading up to our filing. And even more complicated as this is my second i-130 spouse filing.

When I was speaking with a "real" USCIS immigration officer today he made a couple of funny/interesting comments.
1. He mentioned that this was such a good and complicated question, that he wish a junior officer (indicating he was a mid or senior level officer) was on the line to listen in.

2. He mentioned that "I hope this is not a test/QC call from my superiors." and if so, that he hopes he has provided appropriate service.

I obviously need some very special help.

scrubbedexpat099

Are you going to move to Sweden at some point?

funkyab

This is a possibility but not anytime in the near future.
Why do you ask?

scrubbedexpat099

I am not aware of any Country that hands out citizenship with you needing to be resident for a few years first.

funkyab

Me neither except with the possibility of expeditious filing in the U.S. as mentioned in the post above. Would take 2 years of residency in Sweden for her to get citizenship.

Regardless, i dont think we are going to try to deal with citizenship issues at this point. As stated in my OP our biggest concern is how we should best deal with the extended time out of the country.

funkyab

If we simply made sure to enter the U.S. once every 5 months or so, would this basically solve our problems?

Noorah101

Not necessarily. The issue of PR abandonment is based on a case by case basis. Someone could be out of the USA for a short time and have been deemed abandoning status, yet someone else could be out of the USA for 2 years and not abandon status.

Returning once every 5 months helps preserve the presence for naturalization purposes later, but it does not solve the abandonment issue.

Filing for the I-131 is a good step towards proving you do not intend to abandon your PR status, as is keeping a US residence, bank account, filing the required yearly tax return, and keeping ties to the USA. Those things are just helpful, no guarantees.

Rene

notacrime

People have done this and have been successful at maintaining their status. But there are risks. If an officer at the POE decided to make a stink then they could cause you a lot of hassle.

If you want to maintain her current LPR status then you should be doing everything possible to show intent to return to the US once your assignment is over. Applying for the reentry permit is one thing you can do. Applying to remove conditions on her conditional GC is another. The fact that she will still be married to a US citizen should help. And so on.

It's a really muddy area of the law, as you have discovered. I have a re-entry permit and was told once by an officer at the point of entry (I'm paraphrasing) that it was a waste of money. The fact that the reentry permit expires on the date of the conditional green card is also a bit of a farce.

Personally I think that for the 2 year assignment, considering she'll be back in the US for biometrics supporting the I-751 too, there's a good chance that you'll have no problems. If you are going to be gone for more than 2 years then it'll get progressively more sketchy.

You could also consider applying for a returning resident visa (SB-1) when you decide to move back.

And as many people have said on this forum, she is a permanent resident until an immigration judge decides that she isn't.

Good luck, this is a sticky situation, you are running in to an area of immigration law that needs some serious reform.

hobbes79

I went through the same deal. Sure enough, my re-entry permit was useless in so far as it expired before I was out for a year since it was linked to my conditional GC... so had no purpose. I took the option of having it mailed to the US Embassy in London (something I don't think you can do now) and they in fact destroyed it!

I had a minor e-mail "fight" with the US Embassy. They said the re-entry permit had expired since it lined up with my GC expiration. I pointed out I'd filed for removal of conditions, so had a letter saying it hadn't expired and destroying it was a mistake - no idea if that was accurate, but thought I'd have a go! Like notacrime says, this area of the law really should be looked at.

Anyway, I went to the US and showing proof I had at least APPLIED for the re-entry permit got me some goodwill. I got a few eye brow raises, but I got through with minimal hassle.

So, will it help? Maybe not, but it certainly can't hurt. It's a few hundred dollars now (was only $170 when I applied) which is annoying. Just depends how safe about it you want to be.

JAJ

France, Italy, Malta and Switzerland are four that come to mind, although usually you need to be married for a certain period of time.

Sweden may also waive the residence period, for spouses of Swedish citizens who do not live in their "native country" and have been married for at least 10 years.

Noorah101

Iran does, if you are married to one of its citizens. By virtue of my marriage to an Iranian citizen, I'm also now an Iranian citizen and can obtain an Iranian passport, even though I've never set foot in Iran in my life.

Rene