Resident Card Question, Please.................

Question

I have been a resident of the US since 98, and my card will expire in about a year and some months. I am currently outside of the US, and have been out for a little over a year now. My question is: can the time spent out of the country affect if I want to renew my resident status, or becoming a citizen when I return? Note: for the first 7 years of being a resident, I stayed inside the country going to college and working, going away on little 2 month summer breaks every other summer. Thank you all.

Answer 1

Hope you have a re-entry permit because if you don't you have stayed out of the country too long and you may not apply for the re-newal of your permanent residence card because you would of been deemed abandoning your status in the US.  Sorry...Good Luck!!

Answer 2

Do you have a re-entry permit to the US?

If a permanent resident like you remains outside of the US for over a year, they may be considered to have abandoned their status as a permanent resident.

You may not be able to apply for a renewal of your green card at all, based on what you said.

And yes, generally speaking, time spent outside of the US can have a negative impact on your meeting the requirements to apply for US citizenship.

I advise that you contact (urgently) the embassy of the US in the country where you currently are in order to determine if you still are a permanent resident of the US.

Answer 3

Reagarding the Citizenship eligibility, you have to start over of your 5 year continuous resident requirement once you come back.

First 7 years won't be counted since you already lived outside of US for over a year.