how to mantain your green card while living abroad

[samirn98]

Hi we are moving to India but want to keep our green cards. Apart from traveling back every 6 months and filing US taxes, are there any other forms/ stipulations we need to be aware of?

thanks in advance for your answers

[pontevecchio]

Do you really want to pay tax on worldwide Income to the USA? Either get a Reentry Permit to give you time to decide or give up your PR or wait till you become a Citizen. Visiting every 6 months is not a guarantee at all. Talk to a Lawyer .

[Joe.F]

If you are moving abroad, you lose your GC.

As a Permanent Resident, you have to live in the US. It is called "Permanent Residence" for a reason.

It is NOT and has NEVER been enough to just travel to the US once in a while.

See, e.g., http://www.murthy.com/news/UDirtra.html

[t75]

Taking a job outside the US can be construed as giving up your GC. Either live and work in the US or give up your GC and get a B2 visa.

[samirn98]

Thanks for the replies. We are moving to India for 1-2 years only to take care of personal matters, so its not a permanent move.

Here is a helpful link from the INS site:

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/B5en.pdf

[GNH]

If you do not have a residence in the US..then it might be considered as abandonment of your GC.

[t75]

Re-entry permit - before you leave

If you will be working for your US based employer, you have other options. The attorney can advise you of it.

[skamble]

1. Permanent Address in US

2. Yearly Income

3. File Taxes every year

4. 6 months of stay in US - This can be tricky. Either stay a total of 6+ months per year in US or stay for 6+ months at a stretch. If the company that you work for is in US, then it can be justified even if you stay longer out of US. You have to frequent US every 2-3 months to prove you live here. As I said, this can be tricky but get the facts for an Immigration Lawyer like Murthy:)