Wendy

Hi everyone, does anybody know after I got green card( contional), can I go
overseas for study one semester, say 6 months? Or that two years I have to
live in USA? How about one year after that green card waiting for
citizenship? Can I go overseas for 6 months? My university and major
requires me must spend one semester overseas in Europe?

Thank you in advance! I think I have read somewhere that together one person
can not leave USA for 180 days, but I am not very sure about the rules in
this two and three years road heading to a American citizenship.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Based upon the facts you give, yes you can. You may want to consult with an experieinced immigration attorney before departure on how to document the situation so as to avoid future probelms.

Maarten Andriessen

"Wendy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi everyone, does anybody know after I got green card( contional), can I
go
    > overseas for study one semester, say 6 months? Or that two years I have to
    > live in USA? How about one year after that green card waiting for
    > citizenship? Can I go overseas for 6 months? My university and major
    > requires me must spend one semester overseas in Europe?
    > Thank you in advance! I think I have read somewhere that together one
person
    > can not leave USA for 180 days, but I am not very sure about the rules in
    > this two and three years road heading to a American citizenship.

You can leave the United States without losing your immigration status for
up to a full year. If you apply for it in advance, you may even be able to
leave for 2 years.

However, after 6 months (or 180 days - not sure) your time accrued to
citizenship will reset to 0. If you leave the country for 7 months, you will
have to start from day 1 again to get your citizenship, or in other words,
wait another three years if married or another five years if not married to
get your citizenship.

Maarten

DCMark

Be careful making blanket statements like this. You can leave for one day and lose your GC. Every situation is different. Check with an attorney.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You are not quite accurate in your statements -- you are conflating several different concepts related to long term absenses. These situations can be quite fact spefific and the law is not 100% clear on these issues. A usegroup is not the best place to discuss this.

Mtravelkay

Maarten Andriessen wrote:

    >
    >
    > You can leave the United States without losing your immigration status for
    > up to a full year. If you apply for it in advance, you may even be able to
    > leave for 2 years.

Nonsense. Abandonment could technically occur on day 1.