Comment by codybontecou
4 days ago
Hey Mr. Roberts!
I'm a US citizen and my wife has a green card. We like to travel extensively, but feel limited by the need to be in the US for at least 6 months out of the year.
In an ideal world, we could get a digital nomad visa in Portugal and my wife and I could live and work there while we wait out some of the chaos that seems to be occurring in the US.
But, we're not sure if we can live/work in Europe while simultaneously fulfilling the green card requirements. Do you know if there's an exception for cases like this?
There's no requirement that a green card holder spend 6 months in the U.S. during the year. You and your wife can and should travel freely. And you could live outside the U.S. for several years and still keep your green card. If you decide to move to Portugal for a period of time, for example, you should consult an attorney but the solution to protect your green card status (for at least 5 years) is to get a document called a reentry permit, which is easy to get.
Interesting. Thank you for the response. If this is true, that's amazing!
Do you know where the 6-month requirement (rumor?) is from? Reading over https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter... section C states
"...there are two ways outlined in the statute in which the continuity of residence can be broken:
The applicant is absent from the United States for more than 6 months but less than 1 year; or The applicant is absent from the United States for 1 year or more."
Is this only for citizenship/naturalization and not to maintain a green card?
Yes "the continuity of residence" is required for naturalization.
> An applicant for naturalization ... must have resided continuously in the United States after his or her lawful permanent resident (LPR) admission for at least 5 years prior to filing the naturalization application and up to the time of naturalization.
I’ll spare a new thread and just ask here as we are in the same situation (sorry OP!).
My understanding is we at least need to be in the US once every six months in order for my partner to maintain their green card status while we live abroad.
We were not aware of the reentry permit, does this avoid the requirements of needing to enter the country periodically? We are of course concerned about losing their green card status.
Lastly, how realistic is the timing in obtaining the permit? We have our move planned for next month.
Thanks you as always for these threads!
Re-entry permit is granted for 2 years and the only requirement is that you apply for it while in country. Usual processing time nowadays is around a year so in effect you need to apply once every 3 years for it. They have the option of sending it to a us embassy abroad for pick up but we have always had it sent to a friends address in US and picked it up while visiting US.
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