meauxna

My suggestion for you is to hang onto this thread to review in the future. You might be surprised at what you find out when moving.

It is nothing like as arbitrary as your post makes out.
If you are gone 6+ months, you have disrupted your 'continuous presence' for naturalization purposes. If you are not naturalizing to US citizenship, that's not an issue for you.

If you are gone 12+ months, automatic assumptions are made about your intent to live in the US, but your PR status is not stripped from you. No border agent can take it away from you. All you 'have' to do is present yourself as a Permanent Resident. Any argument, and you ask to see a judge. Only the judge can take away your PR status.

And, it may not ever come to an argument at the border, but records checking is getting more stringent and clearly changes are afoot.
If you want to be armed with more information, google the article Now That You Are a Permanent Resident for guidance and if you want to make a plan, contact an immigration lawyer who has worked on abandonment cases before.
The lawyer who posts here regularly is something of an expert on the topic and has made it very clear that abandonment cases are VERY individual and specific.

This may be this poster's opinion, but it is factually, completely incorrect.

Permanent Resident status belongs to the PR, not his spouse. It's up to the individual to protect his US status, not his spouse.

You really should read up on abandonment of PR status; your case isn't dead in the water. This doesn't seem like the best forum to discuss it in; I'd suggest either of the US immigration forums here.

Final safety point: One should never hire an immigration 'advisor', notario or 'consultant'. A bar-admitted immigration attorney (plus points for a member of AILA) is the only person you should ever pay for immigration information.
Remember too that immigration lawyers come in different flavors; be sure to consult one who practices what you need accomplished.

exvj

I take issue with you:

A GC holder can lose that status instantly if they leave the US with the express intent of taking up residence in another country.
Nothing to do with spouses - but if I were to write a letter to my USC spouse saying I was leaving the US forever, and I flew to the UK and set up home there - and she forwarded that letter to the USCIS -goodbye greencard instantly

No six months and no 12 months - instantly

I really think you are wrong saying that is not the case

The intent of a LPR to remain a permanent residence in the U.S. is a key factor in the USCIS's determination of whether the LPR has abandoned his/her permanent residence in the U.S.


http://www.hooyou.com/i-485/MaintainlegalPRS.html

meauxna

Alan, I don't really care what you think and anyone interested in preserving their PR status shouldn't either.

The situation you describe is incorrect, and I'll put my years of study of US immigration law up against yours any day.

/threadjack and that's all I have to say about that. People interested in discussing US immigration law & policy should stop by and post in one of the 2 US immigration fora.

exvj

How can it be a threadjack when I am answering your post ?

but I am right on this one and declarating an intention to give up residency and moving to another country and setting up permanent residency there is enough to let the USCIS cancel the GC at once

ok I won't post again but let readers check on this before they do that - is that fair enough - ok

gone

Englishmum

Your title heading is "Does Anybody Leave the USA?"

Yes they do!

I know of many expat friends whom have left the US in the last couple of years, to return home to South Africa, the UK, Australia and friends who've gone on other expat postings in the Middle East.

My spouse was on the verge of moving back to London last Summer after working in the US for 8 years (has been with his company for 23 years and didn't want to start up a brand new US pension scheme from scratch in the US in his late 40s - which prompted his desire to leave the US as he's on a final salary company pension scheme). At the last moment an opportunity came up with the company to relocate to Switzerland or Singapore...we had lived in Singapore prior to moving to the States so he was very happy to return.

He gave in his Green Card to the US Embassy here in Singapore just after Xmas. He couldn't see the point in paying thousands of dollars a year to Uncle Sam if he wasn't living or working in the US (US citizens and green card holders have to pay tax on worldwide income) and when the expat posting has finished will most likely return to the London office and I'll move back there too.

I'm currently 'commuting' between the US and Singapore; our son is at college in the US and wants to stay in America, although our adult daughter is in London. We still have our house there, no point in trying to sell it right now as the housing market is in poor shape.

I still haven't decided whether or not to keep the green card going, but as I would need to keep it for another 3 years before being able to apply for US citizenship I'm not sure if I'll bother....

Going back to the original question.....yes, people do leave the USA and by all accounts from my expat friends who've left, they're very happy in their decisions to leave and have no regrets. (BTW, some did get their US citizenship before leaving just in case they felt the need to return someday).

Also....I've met quite a number of expats here in Singapore who've lived in the US, many for oil companies in Texas, and none of them are pining to return to the States!

exvj

The exchange rate is also very beneficial for people leaving the U.S. to go to the U.K.

I changed my sterling into USD at 2.04 and bought shares in the US. Those shares fell sharply, but they are worth more in sterling now than what I paid for them because of the exchange rate

It's difficult to dump assets like cars etc, but the lower price yields many more UK pounds

Example: Buy a car for $20k at a rate of $2 = £1 and it costs £10,000

Dump it for $14,000 at a rate of 1.4 and you get all your £10,000 back

Looking at it the other way, a pair if jeans at $20 cost £10 at a rate of $2=£1
Now they cost £14.28 - a 43% increase in all costs since I arrived

I like to keep my cash 50-50 in GBP and USD so I dont really know whether I am making or losing as I dont know where my future is long term and where I will be spending my life savings

How confusing !

YankeemovingAbroad

I have to agree with you. More often than not when people move from one place to another,settling in usually has more to do with that person than the place they are leaving or going to. I currently live in Orlando and there are many wonderful things about this place. The people are friendly and I have not experienced the so called fake friendships that one poster mentioned.

But it helps if you are a out going person who can start a conversation with out having to wait for the neighbor to notice you. I think people sometime have trouble socializing when moving to a new culture and can't quite figure out how best to fit in. I do agree that there are up coming financial cuts in education in the orlando school system.But this short fall is not going to last forever the economy will improve about 15 months out and the money from the federal stimulus injection will help a great deal.

I think a lot of people need to remember that the worst of this economic down turn has yet to hit europe and most forecasters predict there is a 6-8 month gap between what is happening here and what is heading to europe. Not sure if now is a great time to move unless a secure job can be found and with out fear of losing employment 12 months later. It's never easy settling into a new culture after having been born and raised in a place where everything feel so familar to you.

I have lived in several regions of America and can testify that it takes time making a place seem like home once you've established deep roots else where.

surly

Would anyone really imagine that no one leaves the US.
Around a million immigrants a year come here, I'm sure some of the must leave. There are around 35 million foreign born legally living in the US and an estimated 12 million illegal.
Not everyone is going to like it, but most don't hate it enough to leave.

michmel

I am sure plenty leave also. Not everybody is going to be well suited to working and living in the US. I have met plenty who don't like the working conditions (lack of employment rights), one ONE week vacation per year, long work hours, lack of social time. It's not all roses you know. I much prefer working rights in Europe and the lifestyle in Europe than here. I find the US very bland and boring. I am sure I can't be the only one. LOL.

surly

But there always seem to know when their green card expires or get citizenship just in case.

Only boring people get bored.

Cape Blue

Aren't the vast majority of those 35M and 12M from developing countries - in comparison to Guatemala or Iraq the US would look pretty good and most would want to stay, in comparison to the UK, France or Australia perhaps not so much and there will be more returnees.

surly

I don't know you tell me? I know it's very rare to met anyone that has emigrated from France.
I wonder what prompts someone to emigrate in the first place and then bad mouth the country the chose to move to.
I'd heartedly encourage anyone that's unhappy to return. Pity they took up the space someone more deserving could appreciate.

surly

It seems the greatest number of immigrants come from Asia. They are also among the highest achievers.

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/s...pr_fr_2008.pdf

thegambler

Sarah,
How hard was it to come back after all those years? I came to the USA when I was 19 to play soccer in college. All my family are home in the NW of England and I want to be home with them. The problem is that I have a great job in the USA that pays really well. I am 36 now and feel like I would be "unemployable" in the UK because i coach soccer, it is not a well paid job in the UK. Outside of footy I am not sure what I could do. Anyway, I am just curious, was it the right choice?

SarahInTX

Hi Gambler!

I think like everyone I went through the self-doubt phase -- what could I be thinking to want to leave the US? And that stage was hard, going back and forth in my head with arguments and counterarguments while my heart just wanted to be back here.

For me though, I wasn't in a particularly well-paid field in the US, and I'd never been well off, and coming back here didn't mean particularly less well-paid opportunities. All the same, I do have to make some "sacrifices" in order to live within my means, specifically in the house I can get for the amount of rent I can afford -- but I'm living in south Oxfordshire, which is not a particularly cheap area. But I knew that might be the case, and I was prepared to live frugally if I had to.

Anyway, more to the point, I had no problems adjusting and I have absolutely no regrets about coming back. I feel much more relaxed and happier. I do feel that this is where I "belong." Strangely, it almost feels as if I was never away.

HTH.

Sarah