Immigration Lawyer Pompano Beach

You should really file a re-entry permi,t while next inside the U.S. this allows you to remain outside the U.S. for a 2 year period. If you need my office to file once you are next inside the U.s. please advise.

Have you been visiting the US at least every 6 months? If it looks like you are just doing that to try to maintain your status you might actually lose it due to abandonment since in the 2 years if you will have only been in the US for a few weeks every 6 months, it is pretty clear that you are not residing in the US. If you want to have the freedom to live abroad for a few years, you should apply for a reentry permit while you are physically present in the US. That will permit you to stay outside the US for 2 years without having to visit the US every 6 months and without jeopardizing your green card status.

To preserve the resident status in the US, it is important to maintain a domicile in the US and do what a resident would have done in living in this country. Being absent for more than 6 months (or frequently absent for months on end with minimum time spent in the US) may trigger the presumption of abandon of status. Filing your tax return is good because it helps in proving your intent to reside in the US and to abide by the US laws. For tax filing purpose, please go to www. Irs.gov and the site of your State's tax authorities.

Applying for a Reentry Permit is an option but you must do this while you are physically present in the U.S. and remain long enough to be fingerprinted. As a Permanent Resident you are obligated to pay taxes on your worldwide income. I suggest you contact an accountant or tax attorney experienced in international tax issues to handle your returns for you as they can advise you on any tax treaties as well so you aren't paying more taxes in both countries than necessary.

You need to understand that just because you visit the U.S every 6 months you are preserving your green card. An immigration officer can make a determination that you have forfeited your green card if he or she determines you lived and work in another country. That being said, you are authorized to live and work in other countries so long as you do not intend to abandon your residency here. This means that you continue to have ties to the U.S. such as property, family, pay taxes, maintain a residence, etc. You should strongly consider filing an I-191, Application for Advance Permission to Return to Unrelinquished Domicile. This effectively let immigration know you will not to be out of the U.S. for an extended period of time.

The United States expects persons applying for lawful permanent residence to actually intend to reside permanently in the U.S., and they will try to seize the green card and revoke the permanent residency of anyone who they believe does not maintain that intention, even if they make a point of returning to the U.S. every 5 months. If the CCBP border/port-of-entry inspector sees a pattern of more time spent outside of the U.S. than inside of the U.S., they may try to terminate your permanent residency status. It is important to realize that while there are legal and statutory "red lines", there are also factual "gray lines" where an observation of facts and circumstances may lead a CBP officer to question your intent, even if you have complied with the "red line" residency requirements set forth in statutes and regulations (see attached memos on preservation of permanent residency. You will certainly want to maintain and preserve ties to the U.S. and be able to document those continuing ties if questioned by CBP at a port-of-entry. You may want to consider applying for a reentry permit (USCIS form I-131, filing fee $360 plus $85 for biometrics), but you would need to remain in the U.S. long enough to file that application, receive a receipt for the filing, and attend a biometrics (fingerprinting/photographs) appointment in connection with the application for a reentry permit. The filing to biometrics time frame is roughly 3 to 5 weeks. This would help preserve your permanent resident status, even if you were not able to get back to the U.S., for the two year period of the reentry permit. The approval (and use) of a reentry permit, however, does nothing to preserve your residency for naturalization purposes, and using a reentry permit could significantly delay or postpone the date that you would be qualified to file for naturalization. This is a link to the I-131 form information at the USCIS website: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176 543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b11747a55773d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchann el=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD I-131, Application for Travel Document * Download Form I-131 (195KB PDF) * Download Instructions for Form I-131 (217KB PDF) * Download Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (1KB PDF) Purpose of Form : To apply for a reentry permit, refugee travel document or advance parole travel document, to include parole into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons. (If you seek an Advance Parole Document, you may also file this form online .) Number of Pages : Form 3; Instructions 10. Edition Date : 11/05/11 (11/23/10; 02/12/10; 07/14/09; 03/24/09; 10/30/08; 05/27/08; 02/26/08 editions also accepted) Where to File : Please read the form instructions and Special Instructions section of the document. If you are filing at a lockbox, important filing tips, as well as additional information on fees and customer service, are listed on our Lockbox Filing Tips webpage. E-Notification: If you are filing Form I-131 at one of the USCIS Lockbox facilities and would like to receive an e-mail and/or text message that your application has been accepted, print off Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, complete it, and clip it to the first page of your application. Filing Fee : $360. (Exceptions apply, an $85 biometric fee may be required, see form instructions for details.) Special Instructions : If you are filing Form I-131 together with Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, refer to the Federal Register Notice for your particular country's TPS designation, for the filing location. If you are filing Form I-131 by itself, based on your pending or approved Form I-821, file your form I-131 with the USCIS Dallas Lockbox facility. See I-131 instructions. You must include a copy of the I-797C Notice of Action showing that your application was accepted or approved. Filing Period for Renewal of an Advance Parole Document: If you are applying for renewal of your advance parole document (I-512L or I-512), USCIS will accept and adjudicate Form I-131 filed up to 120 days before the date your current Advance Parole document expires. Note: A single employment authorization and Advance Parole card is now available for certain applicants who have filed or will file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. The card is obtained by filing Forms I-131 and I-765 together. Applicants who have already filed a Form I-485 that is pending should use Form I-765 filing location instructions when filing both forms. Applicants should use Form I-485 filing location instructions when filing Forms I-131, I-765, and Form I-485 at the same time. Biometric Services Requirement All applicants for a Refugee Travel Document or a Reentry Permit must complete biometrics at an Application Support Center or if applying for a Refugee Travel Document while outside of the U.S. at an overseas USCIS facility. If you are between age 14 through 79 and you are applying for a Refugee Travel Document or Re-entry Permit, you must also be fingerprinted as part of USCIS biometric services requirements. After you have filed this application, USCIS will notify you in writing of the time and location of your biometrics appointment. Failure to appear to be fingerprinted or for other biometric services may result in a denial of your application. All applicants for Re-entry Permit and/or Refugee Travel Documents between the ages of 14 through 79 are required to pay the additional $85 biometric fee. (See "What Is the Filing Fee" on Page 8 of the I-131 Filing Instructions). Note: Widow(er)s of Deceased U.S. Citizens If you filed a Form I-360 in 2009 and obtained a grant of deferred action based on the fact that you are the widow(er) of a U.S. citizen who died before you had been married at least 2 years, the grant of deferred action makes you eligible to apply for advance parole. To obtain advance parole based on the grant of deferred action, you must file this Form I-131 with the filing fee specified in the Form I-131 instructions. But a recent change in the law may affect your ability to immigrate and to seek advance parole. Section 568(c) of Public Law 111-83 amended the Immigration and Nationality Act so that you may be eligible to immigrate, even if you and your deceased spouse were married for less than 2 years when your spouse died. This change took effect on October 28, 2009, when the President signed the new law. Because of this change in the law, USCIS will now treat your "deferred action" Form I-360 as a widow(er)'s visa petition. This change means that, if you are in the United States, you may be able to file an adjustment of status application, Form I-485, even while your Form I-360 is still pending. Instead of filing this Form I-131 based on the grant of deferred action, you may want to consider filing the Form I-131 with your Form I-485. If you file the Form I-131 based on a pending or concurrently filed Form I-485, you do not need to pay the separate Form I-131 filing fee that you would need to pay if you file the Form I-131 based on the grant of deferred action.