Green card holder stuck in UK

[rtwilli4]

Hello,

My wife is a UK citizen and we have lived together in London for nearly 10 years. She was awarded her permanent residence in October of 2019, and we entered the US together on 23rd November 2019. We only stayed for one week, and then returned to the UK. Our plan was to spend Christmas with family in the UK, then give our notices at our jobs in London and move to the US. I was due to travel to the US at the end of March to start a job, and then my wife was going to follow with our two children in early May. We indicated this very briefly at the interview at the embassy in London.

30th May 2020 will be six months since my wife last departed the United States.

They have mailed her green card to our permanent address in the US, which is owned by my parents. We intend to live there for a short period while we look for a house to purchase. This was all disclosed in the original application.

However, with the recent events, our plans may need to change.

I am American and it appears even with the ban, I will be able to travel to the US without too much trouble. I also understand that this is the same for my wife and kids. However, my mother-in-law is elderly and lives in London by herself. We cannot just leave her alone under current circumstance and she is currently unable to travel to the US.

Our hope is that by May, things will have calmed down a bit, but it seems like this could take a lot longer than that. If my wife has to stay in the UK for more than 6 months, how will this affect her re-entry into the US? Is she at risk of losing her Greed Card?

Thank you!!

[Zerubbabel]

Do you need to stay both of you?

Why not sending your wife to the US so she doesn't lose her Green Card and stay yourself behind to care of the mother in law?

[ibwe]

Hi,

Technically, she can stay out of USA for one year and still keep her residency. However, there is a possibility of questioning but in most cases, being a spouse of a US citizen, she will be allowed entry. Given what is happening now, the border officers will definitely waive questioning.

If you don't want to incur issues, she will have to go back to USA and apply for re-entry permit. This can allow any lawful permanent resident to stay outside US for up to 2 years. However if the intention is to be absent USA for less than a year, re-entry permit is not needed.

Application for re-entry permit are only done whilst in USA.