Green Card experiences?

[potatopie]

DH and I were just discussing possibly applying for his green card. We haven't even looked into where to start or what the process is like. I'd be interested to hear about other people's experiences. How long did it take? Were there travel restrictions during the process? Expenses? Travel restrictions afterwards (i.e. must spend specific amount of time in States to keep it)?

[Deleted]

I'm not sure if he'd be required to apply for a spousal visa first and then move on to adjust his status but anyway there are a few forms involved in applying for an immigrant visa, each comes with a fee. It takes three years to actually receive the package, during this time multiple interviews will occur. One is also subject to medical examination and vaccinations.
If you need an immigration attorney, feel free to PM me

[Deleted]

And ditto Publius, once an immigrant he'd have to spend 6 or more months in the US in a calendar year. After five years he can apply for a passport.

[potatopie]

good memory, @publius! yeah, we always figured that whenever we'd go to the States, it would be for his work so we'd just apply through that. but we were just tossing around the idea of getting it the spouse route. someone, most likely ill-informed, recently said he thought you could keep it if you just touched ground in the US every six months. but i trust you guys more and the six months residence in a calendar year seems more plausible. in which case, we'd definitely have to wait for a job.

[GilliC]

Refresh my memory... Did you move to the US, or do you have a move planned? If you're applying from outside the US, I suspect they would want to see some intention of moving to the US, because the green card is a residency permit, so the holder is supposed to be a resident of the US. Most of the people living outside the US with green cards are in a very grey area.

Applying from within the US, I'm not sure about travel restrictions during the application. XH was from a country that required a visa for US entry, so he applied for travel and work permits at the same time as the green card, so that he could legally travel and work in the US during the application period.

Once you have the green card, there are very serious travel restrictions. If you are out of the country for more than 12 months, the US can consider your residency "abandoned." This is why people tend to return to the US periodically to try to keep their green card valid. However, according to the law, "any absence" of any length of time can be used as evidence that your residency has been abandoned, so the every-12-month visit is not a 100% reliable system.

If you have a green card and you know that you will be out of the country for a long, but not indefinite period, you can apply for a travel permit. This is basically advanced notice that you will be leaving for an extended period, so that your green card is not considered abandoned on your return. The permit is typically valid for 2 or 3 years and can be renewed 2 or 3 times (up to around six years). After that you can keep renewing it, but it's only valid for one year at a time, and you have to apply from the US.

Since keeping the travel permit up-to-date meant flying to the US anyway, XH decided to just try making the once-a-year trip. You have to be careful at US immigration to make it clear that you're out of the US temporarily and have every intention of returning. According to the consular staff at the embassy here, you should really give up the green card while you're overseas, and if you voluntarily relinquish it, it's allegedly a very quick process to reapply when you do move back. No idea if this is true, because XH refused to give it up.

[potatopie]

we're still in SA and don't have plans to move to the US yet. but DH is thinking of taking a sabbatical a year from now. he can get a visa as a visiting academic so it's not necessary to get the green card now. just an idea.

thanks for clarifying the travel restrictions.

[Deleted]

One has to file and pay taxes anyway, I have a non immigrant visa and have always filed and payed taxes.

*non immigrant - silly auto correct

[GilliC]

Nov 11, 2013 9:00:24 GMT -5 @jewelseternal said:

One has to file and pay taxes anyway, I have a non immigration visa and have always filed and payed taxes.

If you live in the US, you have to file and pay taxes in the US no matter what. But if you leave the US, you are no longer taxed by the US.

If you have a green card, you have to file and pay taxes on your worldwide income no matter where you live.

[potatopie]

ooh! good point about the taxes. DH hates big brother Uncle Sam. This will definitely help the decision.

[Deleted]

Nov 11, 2013 9:07:28 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Nov 11, 2013 9:00:24 GMT -5 @jewelseternal said:

One has to file and pay taxes anyway, I have a non immigration visa and have always filed and payed taxes.

If you live in the US, you have to file and pay taxes in the US no matter what. But if you leave the US, you are no longer taxed by the US.

If you have a green card, you have to file and pay taxes on your worldwide income no matter where you live.

Ha, yes, you're absolutely right.

[jemarie]

We are going through the spousal green card process right now. We have our interview in a few weeks. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that doesn't want to permanently move to the US as it is a lot of paperwork and money. Also, if you cannot file direct with the embassy where you live, it is a long process (over a year). Also, if you have been living out of the US, you have to prove that you want to reestablish domicile in the US which is usually the hardest part unless you have a job to go back to. You also have to prove that you can support your spouse (by showing previous tax returns) or having a co-sponsor.

[frlcb]

I've been through it, but we did direct consular filing and I don't know if you can do that from SA, so I would check into that. The whole process was 4.5 months, and really wasn't that stressful.

[allibally]

It took 10 months. We could not do direct consulate filing. It was stressful because where we were living was only a temporarily solution since we wanted to live in the US. We hadn't made a home together in Switzerland prior to filing.

We did everything on our own without a lawyer. I would not recommend getting a green card unless the move to the US was nearly permanent. Having a GC outside the US is a hassle of rules, misconceptions, and walking a tight line of having it revoked. Our life is in the US permanently but we do have thoughts on going back to Switzerland short term. But have discussed this as only a realistic option if H has dual citizenship. Because we don't want to risk having to do this all again. It's three years in the US for citizenship if your married to a USC.

[frlcb]

Nov 11, 2013 14:37:30 GMT -5 allibally said:

 Our life is in the US permanently but we do have thoughts on going back to Switzerland short term. But have discussed this as only a realistic option if H has dual citizenship. Because we don't want to risk having to do this all again. It's three years in the US for citizenship if your married to a USC.

We may have an expat opportunity in the next year or two and for this reason alone dh is finally agreeing to getting his US citizenship!

[allibally]

Nov 11, 2013 14:45:12 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Nov 11, 2013 14:37:30 GMT -5 allibally said:

 Our life is in the US permanently but we do have thoughts on going back to Switzerland short term. But have discussed this as only a realistic option if H has dual citizenship. Because we don't want to risk having to do this all again. It's three years in the US for citizenship if your married to a USC.

We may have an expat opportunity in the next year or two and for this reason alone dh is finally agreeing to getting his US citizenship!

Ooo exciting!

[GilliC]

Nov 11, 2013 14:48:34 GMT -5 @publius said:

Nov 11, 2013 9:16:29 GMT -5 potatopie said:

ooh! good point about the taxes. DH hates big brother Uncle Sam. This will definitely help the decision.

I'm not 100% sure but I'm thinking that a green card subjects you to the foreign bank account reporting act as well.

Yep. The best part of getting divorced* is that I don't have to do the paperwork to report all of XH's accounts in India!


*Okay, maybe just in the admin/paperwork category.

[potatopie]

perfect. this was the info I was hoping for. looks like visa is the way to go for just a sabbatical, unless DH starts looking for work there.


Thanks ladies!

[audette]

I've done the spousal route.

Pain in the ass. Stressful, headache-inducing paperwork, and CIS officials that couldn't tell me the same story from one phone call to the next. The paperwork was lost at least once, maybe twice.

Not cheap, either. We filed without legal assistance, and needed no official translations of foreign documents, and all told from start to green card it was around $4-5k out of pocket. We had to find a co-sponsor, because DH's income prior to our marriage was not sufficient to document his ability to support me.

During the process of attaining the green card, I couldn't leave the US without receiving prior approval (which was a bit stressful, as at the time delays in processing had this taking months and months and months...).

There are travel restrictions after getting the green card. Which made life fun when DH received orders taking us outside of the US for a number of years. Thankfully, being named on US military orders sending me outside of the US (as the dependent, not the servicemember) is sufficient to avoid abandoning status. I can't remember the exact section/paragraph where it is described, but this is the only method to maintain residency status without physical presence in the US as far as I have been able to learn about.

It does mean I have to be more cautious about my foreign income/accounts. That created a temporary headache when we realized that situation, but it has since resolved.


Honestly, in your situation, I would not apply for a green card.