kloolga

Hi I have a question for you guys who are specialist. I have a normal green card a regular green card. I now work over seas in our family company so I work there 3 months and stay here 3 month. But this time I just come back from there after 5 months and some days I stayed longer because my parent were sick and other reasons. I got really questioned at the port of entry but the guy doing my bag search he asked me questions to and advised me to apply for a re entry permit even tho he said I wont be leaving over there for more than a year. He added that it is to protect me and protect my green card so that It wont extend the period when I want to apply for the citizenship and the permit will protect my green card because I have been travelling a lot outside the us. what do you guys think.

S Folinsky

Consult with a lawyer experienced in the law of abandonment. A question to ask the lawyer is "have you tried at least one abandonment case?"

Noorah101

I think there is some misinformation and miscommunication going on. I think you should consult with an immigration attorney, as suggested, and act accordingly.

Rene

penguinsix

Technically I believe the argument can be made that the absolute moment you abandon residence in the US, i.e. even the first day, you have abandoned your Green Card. Now I know of no cases of that being enforced on day 1 or even say day 179, but I believe the law is there should they feel like it (i.e. someone they really want to get out of the country for some reason).

Generally trips away under 6 months get little scrutiny if any. If you are gone between 6-12 months, the government would have to prove you have abandoned residence, something their not likely to take the time and effort to pursue unless you are a terrorist or something. After 12 months though the burden switches to you to show you have not abandoned residence.

The POE officer could have been counseling you as there are a number of people who think they can "top up" their residence by returning every fifth month or so to US territory. He might suspect you of that pattern, or he could have been advising you that "next time you might get stuck", i.e. your parents take ill and you can't return within the 6 months. He might have also been trying to help you with your potential citizenship application later on which requires a certain amount of time in the US in the future.

As others have mentioned though, you might want to talk with a lawyer about your next course of action.

ian-mstm

Hmm... autocorrect?

Ian

Noorah101

ARGH!!! I hate this thing.

Rene

tht

About a week after I got my GC I applied for Global Entry. After I got it it I was traveling every month and would have to clear immigration at least 2 x per month. In that time I never had to answer any questions, because I only had to take my print out to customs. But that may not help you if you are planning to stay longer.