WorldCitizen2021

Hello everyone,

I am working on a I-131 form for a reentry permit, and have a few questions. Please can someone advise me further?

(1a) Official online info states that the reentry permit is for anyone “travelling abroad for up to two years” (https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...uides/B5en.pdf). I have a three-year work contract at home in the UK and plan to return to live in the US after three years. Technically, I’m not “travelling abroad for up to two years” (which sounds like a single trip) because I will need to make a return visit to the US (a week or so) later this year, and probably again in 2023 and in 2024. But I will be “resident abroad for three years but also occasionally travelling back to visit the US” – however, this category or scenario is not discussed in the guidelines, the instructions, or the I-131 form. In fact, the form asks for “Expected length of trip (in days)”, but actually I will be making several “trips” if I make annual visits to the US and then return to the UK each time. So how many days should I state?

(1b) The instructions state that “A reentry permit may not be extended” and “If your permit expires, you’ll need to apply for a new one”. I know that to get a reentry permit in the first place, the I-131 form must be filed in the US. But if two years later you “need to apply for a new one”, can you do this while outside the US? Or can you even do this at all? In other words, how can one complete a three-year work contract outside the US and keep their green card?

(2) If I am granted a reentry permit in the near future, my green card will expire around about the same time (circa March–April 2024). What to do then? Is that a problem?

(3) At one point the instructions refer to a “returning resident visa” – what is that and is this in any way relevant to me, or an option? (Specifically, it is stated: “A Reentry Permit allows a lawful permanent resident or conditional permanent resident to apply for admission to the United States upon returning from abroad during the permit’s validity without the need to obtain a returning resident visa from a U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate”).

(4) I need to leave around 31st March–1st April but have left this very late (hoping to get everything sent off on Monday). Should I request the reentry permit be sent to me at my current address (and risk having to stay longer) or to the US embassy in London? Pros and cons?

(5) The instructions state that passport-style photos should be submitted for refugee travel documents and advance parole documents only. So, I definitely do not need to submit photos for a reentry permit? It looks that way, but worried I'll make a mistake.

Thank you in advance for any help and advice.

Best wishes.

Noorah101

Questions I have:

1) Besides the re-entry permit, what will you be doing to maintain proof of your US PR status? I.e. Keeping your home, USC spouse remains in USA, filing US tax returns, etc.

2) Your green card may expire during your 3-year working abroad segment? I take it from your previous posts that's a 2- year green card as the spouse of a USC? How will you handle the removal of conditions when the time comes? This can't be done from outside the USA, so you need to plan for that carefully.

Personally, I would not have the permit sent to London. Have it sent to your home, and if it arrives after you have left, have whoever is checking your mail send it to you via a trackable method.

Returning Resident Visa is what you'd need if you get stuck without a travel document allowing you back to the USA, such as a valid green card. They can be hard to get, so don't even let yourself get caught in that scenario.

Rene

Noorah101

Your question 1b...a reentry permit is valid for 2 years. Before that one expires, you apply for a new one the same way you're applying for this one. I suppose you could mail it to the USA from the UK... not sure.

Rene

Noorah101

By the way, if your green card expires while outside the USA, your reentry permit also expires so can't be used to return to the USA. Do not get stuck outside the USA with an expired green card, period.

Rene

SanDiegogirl

Overview - About Returning Resident Visas

A permanent resident (called lawful permanent resident or LPR) or conditional resident (CR) who has remained outside the United States for longer than one year, or beyond the validity period of a Re-entry Permit, will require a new immigrant visa to enter the United States and resume permanent residence. A provision exists under U.S. visa law for the issuance of a returning resident special immigrant visa to an LPR who remained outside the United States due to circumstances beyond his/her control. This webpage is about Returning Resident Visas. If you are an LPR unable to return to the United States within the travel validity period of the green card (1 year) or the validity of the Re-entry Permit (2 years), you may be eligible and can apply at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for a Returning Resident (SB-1) immigrant visa.

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-resident.html

The forum usually gets questions about this visa from folks who have been LPR's, have been out of the US for several years but have maintained a home, bank accounts etc in the US

Rete

I believe that the issue is the words "LPR who remained outside the United States due to circumstances beyond his/her control". He is leaving the US to return to the UK due to obtaining a new job there. His US Citizen wife is in the process of applying for a spousal visa to live and work in the UK.

I don't see where there are circumstances beyond his control here.

SanDiegogirl

Oh I agree.... I responded to the OP asking how the re-entry permit and returning resident visa differs.

newacct

You need to be in the US on the date the Re-entry Permit application is received by USCIS. You also need to be in the US for the biometrics appointment. So during your 3 years of work abroad, you would have to at least take a brief trip back to the US to submit the I-131 and do the biometrics appointment.

Removal of Conditions can be filed while physically outside the US; however, you need to have a US address.

WorldCitizen2021

Hi Rene,
Thanks for your comments/suggestions. In answer to your questions:
(1) I’m renting right now; I have significant savings in a US bank account; my wife is a US citizen but she will be coming to the UK with me; we will continue to file US tax returns (hopefully I won’t be taxed in the US on my UK income?)
(2) Yes, my green card will expire around the same time as the re-entry permit. It’s a ten-year green card via marriage (IR1). I have no idea how I would handle the removal of conditions when the time comes (any suggestions?). I didn’t know it was possible to remove the conditions. I just thought I would have to apply for a new card when the current one is close to expiring.

Hi SanDiegoGirl,
Thank you for this. I’ll read that webpage. Meanwhile, I’m wondering if I should apply for the “Returning Resident (SB-1) immigrant visa” when my green card is close to expiring (even though I would still have work in the UK for another year) or closer to the planned (hoped for!) time of return. In either case, it looks like returning to the US (e.g. for a work conference, to visit friends etc.) will be impossible (or very complicated) in year 3.

Hi Rete,
Thanks. Good point. You are right – this is a voluntary move. However, one might say (USCIS won’t necessarily agree!) that an assessment of "beyond one's control" is quite subjective. The job offer is too good to turn down considering the "slave labour" I’ve been doing working as an adjunct professor in recent years in the US. Using my PhD in the US to help educate young Americans but getting paid per hour less than the Starbucks hourly rate is really beyond my control. I can bring three years of experience at a top UK university back to the US if the US is prepared to pay a proper salary (not adjunct work!), or I can stay in the UK. Most of this is beyond my control. I’m just doing the best I can.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate this help.

WorldCitizen2021

Hi newacct,

Thanks. Yes, I am aware that I at least need to wait for the biometrics appointment. But thanks for pointing this out anyway.

You seem to suggest that I could go to the UK for most of a year and come back later to file the I-131 and have the biometrics appointment. But I understand that can take many weeks, so it wouldn’t be a short or convenient visit. Either way, I have the problem of my green card expiring during the three-year period in the UK.

SanDiegogirl

You've also got the issue that you are going to spend a good deal of money on a spouse visa, and then leave the UK after 3 years. At that point your wife won't have Indefinite Leave to Remain, so, if at some point you want to return to the UK you'll have to start the immigration process for her all over again.

Rete

Honestly, WC, consult with an experienced US immigration attorney. A consultation isn't that expensive, if you are charged that is, and worth it.

At the worse, you lose your status in the US and your wife will have to reapply for you IR-1 at the US Consulate in London before you can return to live and work here.

At best, you are allowed back into the US with the approved permit and your citizenship clock restarts with some time allowance for time away.

In the middle, you are at the airport and the CBP allow you to enter the US but refer you to an immigration judge to determine whether you had abandoned your residency status or not.

WorldCitizen2021

What an horrendous prospect! Having options is somehow horrendous because none of this is straight forward. Hopefully after three years things will be clearer (professionally) and we will make a commitment to one place or the other for the rest of our lives. Meanwhile, it could be that after three years, I don't have a way of easily returning to the US (green card application from scratch?!) and my wife's UK visa will expire and we will need to make the next step in the UK and spend loads of money on that while trying to get back to the US. How stressful.

WorldCitizen2021

Hi Rete, thanks. When reading and responding to comments a little while ago, I had actually decided that I would try to find an immigration attorney to get some advice. I appreciate your suggestion. I'll do it!

Noorah101

If you have a 10- year green card, there is no Removal of Conditions.

To me, it sounds like you are pretty much abandoning your US PR status. You won't have a home in the US, your spouse is applying to live in the UK, etc.

As a US PR and USC spouse, you must both report world-wide income on your US tax return. There is a treaty in place where you won't be double taxed, but the income must be reported and appropriate forms completed.

Rene