How long does a foreign spouse with a green card have to stay in the USA each year to keep their status?

Answer 1

They look at it on a rolling basis. Anything over six months absence will raise questions upon return to the USA. After a full year of uninterrupted absence, the GC holder will be considered to have abandoned residence.

Answer 2

A green card is for a permanent resident. If you analyze the phrase "permanent resident" you'll note the connotation that the foreign spouse should be living in the United States permanently, more or less.

With advance permission (file an I-131) from the CIS a permanent resident can reside outside the United States for up to 2 consecutive years uninterrupted. Without advance filing anything over 6 months in a 1 year period is likely to cause suspicion by the CBP Officer at the port of entry and anything over a year is cause to revoke the green card.

There's no hard and fast rule. However, given enough lengthy absences it's likely to look like the foreign spouse no longer lives in the United States and the CBP Officer will deny entry.

At that point the fun and games are going to begin. You'll end up spending a small fortune on attorney fees and are likely to be required to start the immigration process over again, from the beginning.

Answer 3

The Board of Immigration Appeals said in the Matter of Muller, Int. Dec. 2680, "In determining whether an alien has abandoned his lawful permanent residence in the U.S., the length of the alien's absence is not the only factor."

In the Matter of Quijencio, Int. Dec. 2319, the Board said, "In general, these include the duration of the alien's absence from the U.S., the location of the alien's family ties, property holdings, job, and the intention of the alien with respect to both the location of his actual home and the anticipated length of his excursion."

An immigration judge is going to look at a number of factors in deciding if you truly are a returning to an relinquished domicile after a temporary absence.

If you haven't been living, working, paying taxes, etc., in the U.S., and your ties outside the U.S. are stronger than your ties to the U.S., it'll be clear that you don't live in the U.S. anymore.

It's a fallacy that one trip a year for a brief period is enough to preserve resident status. CBP and the immigration judge are going to look at the totality of the circumstances.

Answer 4

six months. after any length of outside USA longer than six month you must re apply from the start. so at least six months.