newton817

Hello everyone,

I haven't posted on here for quite a while as my family and I was petitioned for a F3 visa back in 2006, so it has been quite a stretch. Nevertheless, we have just received a letter to prepare for applying and are now in the process of getting all information required and filing forms etc.

My question to anyone that could help me is regarding if we can apply for a returning resident visa and return pretty much straight away after receiving our green card as my son will be in his last year of school next year and I would need to tie up a couple of things.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thank you

Rete

After you get the visa in your passports you will need to enter the US with the visa for them to be stamped and the green card manufacturing started. The green card will be sent to the US address you give them for mailing. Your passports will each be stamped with an I-551 which is a stamp that will serve as your green card until the wallet size card comes in the mail.

You are free to leave the US the same day you enter. If you are planning on being outside of the US for more than six months, then you need to file the I-131. If you will be gone less than 6 months then you don't need to but can and should if you feel that it will make you confident that your PR status will not appear abandoned.

The problem I see is that you will be out of the country until 2020 when you son graduates. You can delay the US Embassy interview for as long as possible. From your description I don't know where you are in the process but assume the I-130 that was applied on your and your family's benefit has been approved and you are being asked to deal with the UK portion of the process.

newton817

Thank you for your reply Rete. As you suggest, the delay of sending in the documents for as long as possible and the time to get an interview may get us past his exams next May.

To clear up my wife, our 2 children and I was petitioned for by her father in February 2006 and was approved. We have been waiting for the visa bulletin to show current and have just received a letter to start preparing the documents required i.e. police record, marriage certificate etc. We now have 12 months to apply for a visa to the NVC and they I presume will then arrange an interview at the London Embassy.

My worry was if we were successful in being granted a visa and then enter the US and then spend no time at all before coming back and losing our right to return. We will be staying until we get the plastic card before returning however, which I am led to believe takes between 4 to 6 weeks.

Noorah101

You don't need to wait for the plastic card. The I-551 endorsement in your passport will be exactly the same as the plastic card.

The big issue is to not spend extended time outside the USA after becoming a PR. Its best to spend visits of less than 6 months outside the USA.

Your son has a better chance of keeping his PR status because studying abroad is a valid reason for being outside the USA. But you don't have that luxury.

Rene

Rete

Also bear in mind that if your father-in-law dies before you get the PR status, then the petition dies along with him.

Thus, it might mean getting your visa and entering the US asap as her father is probably in his late 50's or 60's.

As Rene said, your son can enter the US with the approved visa and then return to the UK after applying for the returning resident document and continue his schooling.

The reason of continuing education is a good reason by being outside of the US as long as he has the approved I-131.

newton817

Rene, thank you for your advice. The reason for maybe trying to drag it out is so that I don't have to enter the US and then fly back so that he can finish his education.

Rete, I do appreciate that if my father-in-law may pass before getting PR status but I feel like I either drag it out or try to get our PR quickly and then return.

It is something that my wife and I are going to really consider but thank you both for your candor and insight of which ways are available and the risks associated.

S Folinsky

The green card itself is a re-entry permit for absences less than a year. The absence must be temporary. The rules regarding what might be considered temporary can be fuzzy around the edges, but completion of school is a classic valid temporary reason.

It is common for new immigrants to enter on the visa and then return to their former home to wind up affairs even if that takes some months. Perfectly fine.

What is NOT allowed is to live abroad with the idea of returning to the US for a short time every year. The multiple long sojourn abroad show abandonment of residence. But going back to wind up affairs is fine.

If one doesn't mind reading cases, the two mother cases on extended time abroad can be found on the net. The first one is Matter of Kane in "15 I&N Dec" and the other is Matter of Huang in "19 I&N Dec."

There is a related issue of continuity of residence for naturalization as a US Citizen. That is where an absence of more than 180 days can be problematical. That affects naturalization, not admission as a returning permanent resident.

nudda

Very useful thanks.
Re: I-131 theres a ~600USD fee for this. Which category of the form would one need to file under for being out of the US with GC for more than 6 months?

Noorah101

Re-entry permit.

Rene