r2i forum

I am really confused about my GC and was wondering if anyone has any advise. We R2I in Apr 2012. My husband and children and US citizens by birth. We plan to spend 9 months in India and 2-3 months in US for the next 4-5 yrs may be less may be more. I will be returning to the US now in May 2013. Will i be able to re-enter on GC?
I was wondering if i should just surrender the GC and get a 10yr tourist visa and when we decide to return back to the US for good reapply for GC. I just don't feel like dealing with immigration officers at re-entry for the next several years.
Is this a bad plan? Also I am coming up on 8 yrs on the GC and will be easier to surrender GC this year rather than next year.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation before?

nycbom;475397I am really confused about my GC and was wondering if anyone has any advise. We R2I in Apr 2012. My husband and children and US citizens by birth. We plan to spend 9 months in India and 2-3 months in US for the next 4-5 yrs may be less may be more. I will be returning to the US now in May 2013. Will i be able to re-enter on GC?
I was wondering if i should just surrender the GC and get a 10yr tourist visa and when we decide to return back to the US for good reapply for GC. I just don't feel like dealing with immigration officers at re-entry for the next several years.
Is this a bad plan? Also I am coming up on 8 yrs on the GC and will be easier to surrender GC this year rather than next year.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation before?

Best is to reach out to a lawyer (there are consultations available online for free or a small fee).

Word of caution: Stay outside US on a Green Card upto 6 months is allowed; beyond that it is recommended that one applies for a reentry permit. Beyond one year, the GC will be considered to be forfeited (i.e., not eligible for entry) is my understanding.

Since you are considering Apr 2012 to May 2013, that is more than a year; hence you may want to get legal advice on the matter asap.

As your spouse is a US Citizen, reapplying for GC may be simpler than the Employment route.

Tourist visa length depends on the purpose of the visit, type of visa and the country of citizenship.

Probably folks who have been there and done that maybe able to help better.

With your situation, you can face questions from immigration agents with either GC or a Tourist visa.

If you enter with green card after long absence, they may question you to confirm if the place you call "home" is still inside the US http://www.visalaw.com/99oct/20oct99.html
If you enter with Tourist Visa, they may question you to confirm if the place you call "home" will remain outside the US.

Even with nearly 8 years on GC, you never applied for USC. Or, perhaps you applied and could not get USC. Plus, you have R2I'd already for at least 4-5 years. So it seems you will not be applying for USC in the near future. Secondly, you have R2I'd and will spend majority of time in India so your home base will be India. If both these are true, you might as well abandon your GC and get a tourist visa.

For your next trip in May 2013, you will likely have very little problem getting into the US using your unexpired GC. Rest of your family is USC. And, if you pretend your home is still in US but you just took a long holiday in India, they will let you in with 1-2 questions considering it is your first time in this situation.

After that, you have the option to renew your expiring GC and remain a GC holder. But subsequent trips will increasingly become difficult even with renewed GC. The reason is that you will have to continue to file taxes, maintain bank accounts and a US address to keep your US residency "valid" in the eyes of the US. So, you have more hassles pretending to be a US resident when you are not really one. With a tourist visa, your only hassle will be once a year for 15 minutes when you enter US.

So, tourist visa is preferable if you do not intend to become a US resident in the next 5 years or do not intend to pursue USC.
On the other hand, if you can handle the hassle and risk of pretending to be a US resident for next 5 years, you can renew your GC and remain a GC holder.

I am thinking about this too - anyone who has gone through this experience - would highly appreciate if you can share the visa process - what questions you faced or was it easy enough to convince given that you are surrendering your green card and so the immigration intent is no longer there

kochisulthaan;476500I returned to India in 2010 with GC and visited US in 2011 (with a re-entry permit). I have decided to live in India but need to visit US once in a while (once in a year or two) as it is good for my career and sometimes needed as well. On that reason I surrendered my GC last month at Chennai US consulate and applied for a visitor visa. I wish at least I get my passport back!!
KS

Thanks. Please update on how it goes.
Is it required to surrender GC to get visitor visa?. Can we apply for visitor visa after reentry permit get expired and when it's really needed to travel?
Are there any implication?

Thanks - how was the process of getting the visa. Was it easy enough given the fact that you were surrendering your GC. Or did they ask you tough questions. Did you get a letter from your employer saying that you need to visit US for business or you just said you need to visit for tourist reasons. any inputs you provide would be useful.