Greencard and Citizenship
 

Hi All,

I am hoping that people will be able to help with my slight problem. I
have a Green card and have lived in the US for 3 1/2 years. I realize
that after 4 years and 9 months I can apply for US Citizenship. But
here is my problem.......

I need to go back to Europe for about 1 year. I am willing to travel
back and forth between Europe and America once every 6 months and I am
hoping that this will keep my Green card valid. I am aware that I can
apply for an "Exit Visa" but I would prefer not to take that route as
then my residency time will go back to zero. Has anyone done this
before and if so when you applied for Citizenship did you have
problems?

Thanks for the advice.

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

"Pat" wrote in message
news:af5eb174.0210051241-
[email protected]...

    > I am hoping that people will be able to help with my slight problem. I
    > have a Green card and have lived in the US for 3 1/2 years. I realize
    > that after 4 years and 9 months I can apply for US Citizenship. But
    > here is my problem.......
    > I need to go back to Europe for about 1 year. I am willing to travel
    > back and forth between Europe and America once every 6 months and I am
    > hoping that this will keep my Green card valid. I am aware that I can
    > apply for an "Exit Visa"

There is no such thing as an "exit visa." Maybe you are thinking of a
reentry permit.

but I would prefer not to take that route as
    > then my residency time will go back to zero.

Merely obtaining a reentry permit has no such effect. Many people obtain one
simply to ensure than an entry to the U.S. after an absence of more than 6
months but less than one year does not cause so much fuss at the port of
entry. It seems to help, to have a reentry permit.

The action that makes you have to start the 5 year period over again is your
remaining outside the U.S. for more than one year (which absolutely breaks
continuity of residence), or remaining outside the U.S. for more than 6
months IF you can't convince INS later, on your N-400, that you did not
abandon permanent resident status.

For you, it would be a good idea never to spend a full 6 months outside the
U.S.

Has anyone done this
    > before and if so when you applied for Citizenship did you have
    > problems?

I think you can manage this without too much trouble. See
http://antaoandchuang.com/i-keeping.-
html,
http://www.vkblaw.com/law/maintain.htm-
, for tips. These refer to preserving
permanent resident status, but the same principles apply toward preserving
residence toward naturalization.

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

hi there. i hope someone can answer my question. i got my us green card in 1989 and lived in the us from 1989-1995 then from 97-98. my problem is that i've been here in the philippines since 1998 and i wanna go back to the states, what is the best thing for me to do and how long will that take? i have a son who is a us citizen but he's only 5. i really want to live in the states now because life is tough in the philippines. hope you can reply to me at [email protected]

thank you.

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

"Sylvia Ottemoeller" wrote in message news:...
    > "Pat" wrote in message
    > news:af5eb174.02100512-
    > [email protected]    ...
    > > I am hoping that people will be able to help with my slight problem. I
    > > have a Green card and have lived in the US for 3 1/2 years. I realize
    > > that after 4 years and 9 months I can apply for US Citizenship. But
    > > here is my problem.......
    > >
    > > I need to go back to Europe for about 1 year. I am willing to travel
    > > back and forth between Europe and America once every 6 months and I am
    > > hoping that this will keep my Green card valid. I am aware that I can
    > > apply for an "Exit Visa"
    > There is no such thing as an "exit visa." Maybe you are thinking of a
    > reentry permit.
    > but I would prefer not to take that route as
    > > then my residency time will go back to zero.
    > Merely obtaining a reentry permit has no such effect. Many people obtain one
    > simply to ensure than an entry to the U.S. after an absence of more than 6
    > months but less than one year does not cause so much fuss at the port of
    > entry. It seems to help, to have a reentry permit.
    > The action that makes you have to start the 5 year period over again is your
    > remaining outside the U.S. for more than one year (which absolutely breaks
    > continuity of residence), or remaining outside the U.S. for more than 6
    > months IF you can't convince INS later, on your N-400, that you did not
    > abandon permanent resident status.
    > For you, it would be a good idea never to spend a full 6 months outside the
    > U.S.
    > Has anyone done this
    > > before and if so when you applied for Citizenship did you have
    > > problems?
    > I think you can manage this without too much trouble. See
    > http://antaoandchuang.com/i-keepin-
    > g.html    ,
    > http://www.vkblaw.com/law/maintain.h-
    > tm    , for tips. These refer to preserving
    > permanent resident status, but the same principles apply toward preserving
    > residence toward naturalization.

If Pat were to apply at 4yrs 9 mos, can pat then move out of the
country while her citz is being processed? I am a US citz; my wife is
a US GC and we want to move to her homeland of Canada, but we also
want to get her citizenship.

Do we have to wait for the citizenship to be 100% complete before
moving out of the country?

Charles

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

Once your are out of the US soil for 6 months, your clock towards US
citizenship generally breaks. Check
http://www.ins.gov for the
eligibility for naturalization. There are peeople who can keep their
clock running while they are working outside the US. But generally
your 4 year 9 months clock will be reset once you are out of the US
for more than 6 months at a time.



[email protected] (Charles) wrote in message news:...
    > "Sylvia Ottemoeller" wrote in message news:...
    > > "Pat" wrote in message
    > > news:af5eb174.021005-
    > > [email protected]    ...
    > >
    > > > I am hoping that people will be able to help with my slight problem. I
    > > > have a Green card and have lived in the US for 3 1/2 years. I realize
    > > > that after 4 years and 9 months I can apply for US Citizenship. But
    > > > here is my problem.......
    > > >
    > > > I need to go back to Europe for about 1 year. I am willing to travel
    > > > back and forth between Europe and America once every 6 months and I am
    > > > hoping that this will keep my Green card valid. I am aware that I can
    > > > apply for an "Exit Visa"
    > >
    > > There is no such thing as an "exit visa." Maybe you are thinking of a
    > > reentry permit.
    > >
    > > but I would prefer not to take that route as
    > > > then my residency time will go back to zero.
    > >
    > > Merely obtaining a reentry permit has no such effect. Many people obtain one
    > > simply to ensure than an entry to the U.S. after an absence of more than 6
    > > months but less than one year does not cause so much fuss at the port of
    > > entry. It seems to help, to have a reentry permit.
    > >
    > > The action that makes you have to start the 5 year period over again is your
    > > remaining outside the U.S. for more than one year (which absolutely breaks
    > > continuity of residence), or remaining outside the U.S. for more than 6
    > > months IF you can't convince INS later, on your N-400, that you did not
    > > abandon permanent resident status.
    > >
    > > For you, it would be a good idea never to spend a full 6 months outside the
    > > U.S.
    > >
    > > Has anyone done this
    > > > before and if so when you applied for Citizenship did you have
    > > > problems?
    > >
    > > I think you can manage this without too much trouble. See
    > > http://antaoandchuang.com/i-keep-
    > > ing.html    ,
    > > http://www.vkblaw.com/law/maintain-
    > > .htm    , for tips. These refer to preserving
    > > permanent resident status, but the same principles apply toward preserving
    > > residence toward naturalization.
    > If Pat were to apply at 4yrs 9 mos, can pat then move out of the
    > country while her citz is being processed? I am a US citz; my wife is
    > a US GC and we want to move to her homeland of Canada, but we also
    > want to get her citizenship.
    > Do we have to wait for the citizenship to be 100% complete before
    > moving out of the country?
    > Charles

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

You've lost your green card since you've been outside of the US since 1998.
You need to go through the process again. The fact that you have a 5 year
old kid who is an American citizen doesn't help you much, not until he's 21
and can petition on your behalf.

Sorry about the bad news but I hope this helped.

K

"ethannadine" wrote in message
news:435093.1033930667@britishexpats-
.com...
    > hi there. i hope someone can answer my question. i got my us green
    > card in 1989 and lived in the us from 1989-1995 then from 97-98. my
    > problem is that i've been here in the philippines since 1998 and i wanna
    > go back to the states, what is the best thing for me to do and how long
    > will that take? i have a son who is a us citizen but he's only 5. i
    > really want to live in the states now because life is tough in the
    > philippines. hope you can reply to me at [email protected]
    > thank you.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

[QUOTE][SIZE=1]Originally posted by Konstantin Loguinov:
You've lost your green card since you've been outside of the US since 1998.
You need to go through the process again. The fact that you have a 5 year
old kid who is an American citizen doesn't help you much, not until he's 21
and can petition on your behalf.

Sorry about the bad news but I hope this helped.

K

what about the thing they call re entry visa or returning resident visa? how do you know all these? thanks for the info!!!

marie

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

I'm not sure what you refer to as a re-entry visa or a returning resident
visa, but once you are out of the US for longer than 1 year (2 years if you
have a re-entry permit), your permanent residence is considered abandonded.
You've been outside of the US for 4 years, chances are you'll be (and
according to the law you should) turned around at the border when you try to
re-enter the US.

K

"ethannadine" wrote in message
news:436854.1034076710@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Originally posted by Konstantin Loguinov:
    > > You've lost your green card since you've been outside of the US since
    > > 1998.
    > > You need to go through the process again. The fact that you have a 5
    > > year
    > > old kid who is an American citizen doesn't help you much, not until
    > > he's 21
    > > and can petition on your behalf.
    > >
    > > Sorry about the bad news but I hope this helped.
    > >
    > > K
    > >
    > > what about the thing they call re entry visa or returning resident
    > > visa? how do you know all these? thanks for the info!!!
    > >
    > > marie
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

"ethannadine" wrote in message
news:436854.1034076710@britishexpats-
.com...

    > Originally posted by Konstantin Loguinov:

    > > You've lost your green card since you've been outside of the US since
1998.
    > > You need to go through the process again. The fact that you have a 5
year
    > > old kid who is an American citizen doesn't help you much, not until he's
21
    > > and can petition on your behalf.
    > >
    > > Sorry about the bad news but I hope this helped.

    > > what about the thing they call re entry visa or returning resident
    > > visa? how do you know all these? thanks for the info!!!

The reentry permit allows a permanent resident to remain outside the U.S.
for up to 2 years, and be allowed to re-enter the U.S. as a permanent
resident. The reentery permit must be applied for before the applicant
leaves the U.S. Since you did not apply while in the U.S., you can't get
one.

The returning resident visa allows for a permanent resident who has remained
outside the U.S. too long, because of circumstances beyond his control, to
re-enter the U.S. using an immigrant visa. It would be virtually impossible
for you to prove to the U.S. consular post that the reason you did not
return to the U.S. by the one-year deadline in 1999 was a circumstance
beyond your control.

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

Going to the US Consulate and
explaining he situation why you
couldn't reurn to US may be helpful.
Since he child is a US Citizen, the Consulate may consider giving you
a return visa. This is just a guess.

Re: Greencard and Citizenship
 

i am hoping for that. the only reason we went back here to the philippines is so that my son's father could see his son, but through years of waiting i realized he is too irresponsible to provide for his son. i only wanna go back to the states because everyone except my dad is there and i want to be able to give my kids a good future.

i can't work here in the philippines. i'm overaged and have no degree. i've always worked in the states though.

marie