Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

HOW long can a lawful permanent resident spend outside of the United States without placing his or her Green Card status in jeopardy? While an absence from the United States of more than six months creates a rebuttable presumption that one intends to abandon permanent resident status, and an absence of over one year is deemed abandonment, the key idea is that a lawful permanent resident may travel abroad as long as her intentions to reside in the US remain unchanged.

Each time a lawful permanent resident tries to reenter the US, the resident is subject to an immigration inspection. If the resident who is subject to immigration inspection is determined to be inadmissible, that person may be denied admission and may be ordered removed from the US. A resident who is seeking admission at a port of entry generally must have in her possession, a valid and unexpired travel document. Depending on the person’s immigration status or if the person has an application for an immigration benefit pending, several types of travel documents are required if the person wishes to return to the US after travel abroad.

Before leaving the US, residents should ascertain whether they require a travel document to reenter the country or whether their departure will in any way impact their current benefits application. There are several types of Travel Documents issued by immigration authorities which are applicable:

Generally, a person in the US who has filed an application for adjustment of status is deemed to have abandoned that adjustment of status application if she departs the US while her application is pending. The effect of an advance parole travel document is to permit travel, while preventing abandonment. An advance parole document is issued solely to authorize the person who travels to a US port of entry to seek parole into the United States to await the adjudication of the pending application.

A person’s application for an advance parole document on the basis of a pending application for adjustment of status must be approved prior to departing the US. If granted, USCIS normally issues a 1-year, multiple-use advance parole document. If the resident departs prior to issuance of the advance parole document, her application for adjustment of status will be considered abandoned.