Permanent residents may travel outside the U.S. and reenter without requiring a visa. However, residents who plan to be outside the country for more than a year will need to apply for a reentry permit at least 60 days before departing the U.S.
Permanent residents who remain outside the U.S. for more than two years risk losing residency status because the USCIS considers an absence of two (consecutive) years as an abandonment of permanent resident status.
Form I-131 must be used to apply for a re-entry permit. The filing fee is $385 as June 2010, and processing takes approximately three months.
Importantly: the permit cannot be applied for outside the U.S.
The guide to applying for a reentry permit is useful for residents planning an lengthy trip abroad.
Have you had any experience applying for a reentry permit?
This blog is about my immigration journey - which began in the late-1990s - from Zimbabwe to the United States of America. I am sharing my experiences with the objective of helping individuals who, similarly to me, may find the immigration process impermeable. I am not an attorney and the contents of this blog do not constitute legal advice.
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