Guide to Reentry Permits

Guide to Reentry Permits

If you are a U.S. lawful permanent resident (LPR), there are at least three situations where applying for a reentry permit may be beneficial:

(a) if you will be abroad for one year or more;

(b) if you will be abroad for more than six months for two consecutive years; and

(c) if you have been warned by U.S. Customs and Border Inspection (CBP) officer that you are at risk
     of abandoning your permanent resident status.

Who Should Apply for a Reentry Permit?

If you are a U.S. lawful permanent resident (LPR), there are at least three situations where applying for a reentry permit may be beneficial: (a) if you will be abroad for one year or more; (b) if you will be abroad for more than six months for two consecutive years; and (c) if you have been warned by U.S. Customs and Border Inspection (CBP) officer that you are at risk of abandoning your permanent resident status

If You Will Be Abroad One Year or More

A Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card (i.e., green card) is only valid for entry after an absence from the U.S. of less than one year.If you have been abroad for one year or more, the CBP officer at the port of entry won’t let you enter by merely showing the I-551.

In contrast, a reentry permit can be valid for reentry to the U.S. for a period of up to two years. So, if there is a significant chance that you will be abroad for a year or more, we recommend applying for a reentry permit before leaving the U.S.

If You Will Be Abroad for More than Six Months for Two Years in a Row

To allow you to reenter the U.S. as an LPR, the CBP officer at the port of entry must determine that you are returning from a “temporary” trip abroad. If the trip abroad wasn’t temporary, then you have “abandoned” your LPR status, making you ineligible for readmission.

When is a trip abroad “temporary”? According to the courts, a trip abroad is temporary only if you possess an intention at the time of departure and throughout the entire trip to return to the U.S. as a place of employment or business or as an actual home “within a period relatively short, fixed by some early event.” If the return date “hing[es] on a contingency,” that contingency must have a “reasonable possibility of occurring” within a short period of time. It’s not enough that the intent to be to return “at some indefinite time in the possibly distant future.”And it’s not enough to intend to retain your LPR status.

if you will be outside the U.S. for more than 6 months for two consecutive years, there is a significant risk CBP may determine your stay abroad is not temporary, so you should apply for a reentry permit.

If CBP Has Warned That You Are at Risk of Abandonment

Another situation where you should obviously consider applying for a reentry permit is if a CBP officer has warned you that you are at risk for abandonment. This can happen at the port of entry when you are returning to the U.S. from abroad. The officer may notice that you have been abroad for a significant period of time and advise you that a non-temporary trip abroad will lead to abandonment of your LPR status.

Eligibility Requirements

USCIS may, as a matter of discretion, issue a reentry permit to a person meeting the following requirements:
1.You have been lawfully admitted to the U.S. as an LPR or conditional resident.
2.You have not abandoned that status, as discussed above.
3.You intend in good faith to make a temporary trip abroad.
4.You must be physically present in the United States at the time of filing. For this purpose, the
   United States means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin
   Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
5.Departing the U.S. after you file has no effect on the application, although you would need
   to return to the U.S. for a biometrics appointment if you are between ages 14 and 79.
6.Issuance would not be contrary to the U.S. national interest

If you have any questions regarding Guide to Reentry Permits or any other immigration topic,
Please contact LEGiTiGO, today



Information contained here should not be construed as legal advice. Do not act or rely on this information without seeking legal advice from a qualified lawyer who learns your goals, investigates the specific facts of your case, researches how the law may apply to those facts, and then gives advice taking all that into account.

Know your rights cards

 

 

When ICE officials knock on your door, you don’t have to let them into your home. And in case a law enforcement officer stops you on the road and asks about your immigration status, do not provide any information without your immigration lawyer.

 

Those were the rights that undocumented Filipinos and all other immigrants in the United States can exercise to protect themselves, according to immigration and community advocates on Wednesday, in the wake of executive orders on immigration issued by Pres. Donald Trump that have sparked massive raids in recent days across the country.

 

“Don’t open the door to anyone you don’t know,”

 

Sally Kinoshita, deputy director of Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), told the ethnic press.

 

“Don’t sign any document that you don’t understand [because] that may give up some of your rights to a hearing [with an immigration judge] and other benefits.”

 

Every immigrant can deny ICE officials entry, especially if they don’t have a warrant issued by an immigration judge, advocates say. In most cases, because judges issue order of removals and not warrants, ICE officials do not have warrants with them.

 

Know your rights

 

“Immigrant communities,” Konishita added, “should know that these rights have not been changed.”

Giselle Ruiz, a staff attorney at ILRC, noted that these rights are rooted in the U.S. Constitution and that every individual in the country, regardless of immigration status, is protected.

 

If you have any questions regarding this BLOG or any other immigration topic,
Please contact LEGiTiGO, today


Breaking news

Breaking: The number of states challenging Trump’s revised ban is growing

After Hawaii, five more states followed suit to boost the nationwide call to scrap the revised executive order that bars citizens from select Islamic nations from entering the US.

Washington, which played a significant role in suspending the first ban, initiated the move on March 9 just a few hours after Hawaii. The five other states to seek a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the federal court are Oregon, Minnesota, New York, and Massachusetts, which all filed their respective complaints.

On Monday, California joined the six states, saying that a large fraction of its constituents will be affected by the ban. It will also inflict a financial harm that could cost up to over $US40 in tax revenues if visitors from several Middle Eastern nations will no longer be allowed to visit the country.

“The Trump Administration may have changed the text of the now-discredited Muslim travel ban, but they didn’t change its unconstitutional intent and effect,” California’s attorney general Xavier Becerra told the press right after the case was filed.

Every complainant echoes the same sentiment that the ban will hit the country in all aspects, including financial and moral, needless to mention how it aggravates the US’s waning global reputation.

The official implementation of Trump’s revised ban is on Thursday, March 16, 2017. The administration maintains its stance on the matter, saying that the new policies it wants to implement are indisputably constitutional and simply aim to protect the country from all forms of terrorist attacks.

China's Work Visa

China to begin rolling out 5-year work permits for foreigners, cutting down on the hassle

The good news just keeps rolling in for those hoping to live and work in China without too much hassle.

China's Ministry of Public Security announced a refreshing new pilot program which will allow any foreigner who has been working in China for at least two consecutive years to apply for a five-year work permit.

This is a pretty significant upgrade over the current system in which most expats are forced to reapply for a new work permit each year, even if they are on a multi-year job contract.

The trial program is expected to be rolled out later this year in nine cities and provinces, including Beijing, Wuhan and Hebei province, along with 11 trade free-trade zones, including those in Tianjin, Chongqing and Henan, according to Caixin.

At the same time, the outline of another program has been introduced which will allow foreigners who have resided in China for more than four consecutive years while spending at least six months out of each year inside the country to apply for a permanent residence permit, as long as they meet certain salary and income tax thresholds -- though the details of this plan have not yet been released.

Recently, China has begun introducing more and more new measures aimed at attracting high-level global talent to the country, relaxing residence and entry policies, leading to 1,576 foreigners becoming new permanent residents of China in 2016, up 163% from the previous year.

To go along with this new era of "openness," China announced in January that international graduates with master's degrees from Chinese universities or from "well-known" foreign universities are now eligible for a Z visa immediately after graduation, waiving the previous requirement of two years of postgraduate work experience.

At the same time, China has also been cracking down on less-skilled laowai, introducing a ranking system judging expats based on their "talent" and banning non-native English teachers from teaching in some regions.

H-4 Visa

H-4 Visa for Family of an H-1, H-2, or H-3 Visa Holder

An H-4 visa is a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa permitting a foreign national to enter the United States as the spouse or minor, unmarried child of someone who holds an H-1B, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B, or H-3 visa. (All of these categories are for temporary workers or trainees coming to the U.S. at the request of a U.S. employer.)

There are no limits on the number of H-4 visas given out each year.

H-4 Visa Rights and Restrictions

The H-4 visa allows you to come to the U.S. to accompany the primary visa holder. Your rights are basically derived from that person. You will have the same authorized length of stay. If the primary visa holder fails to maintain his or her status, you too will lose your status. If that person obtains an extension of status, you too may extend your status. Of course, if you independently do something that violates your status, like work without authorization, your visa can be cancelled.

Like the primary visa holder, you will be allowed to travel in and out of the United States at will.
You may not accept employment in the United States unless you separately qualify for a work visa in your own right. You may, however, go to school in the U.S. without obtaining a separate visa.

H-4 Visa Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for an H-4 visa, you must:
•be the spouse or unmarried child, under 21, of an H-1B, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B, or H-3 visa holder, and
•be able to prove that you intend to leave the United States at the end of your authorized stay and return to your residence abroad.

In addition, as with all U.S. visas, you will need to prove that you are not “inadmissible” to the United States. The grounds of inadmissibility include things like having committed a crime, been a member of a terrorist group, or contracted a disease of public health significance.

H-4 Visa Application Process

First, your spouse or parent will need to receive a job offer or other qualifying offer from an employer in the United States. After the employer has taken any required preliminary steps, such as obtaining approval of a visa petition from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), you will need to assemble or prepare the following and go to a U.S. consulate in your home country to apply for the H-4 visa:
•Printout of State Department Form DS-160, Nonimmigrant Visa Application, which you will prepare online.
•Receipt showing that you have paid the visa application fee.
•Payment for the visa reciprocity fee, if any.
•Passports for each of your family members, valid for at least six months.
•One photo of each applicant, passport style.
•Proof of your relationship to the primary visa holder, such as marriage and birth certificates.
•Documents proving your intention to return to your home country at the end of your permitted stay, such as proof of ownership of real estate and relationships with close family member staying behind, or a letter from your employer stating that your job will be waiting for you upon return.

H-4 Visa Fees and Costs

H-4 costs to the individual applicant include a nonrefundable application processing fee and possibly a reciprocity fee upon visa issuance, depending on which country you are from.

Green Card and Work Permit

What’s the Difference Between a Green Card and Work Permit?

A lot of people mistakenly believe that green cards are nothing more than work permits. Although green cards and work permits are both photo identity cards, and they both permit the holder to work in the United States, they represent vastly different statutes. Let’s review those here.

What Is a Green Card?

People all over the world have heard of green cards. It is the unofficial term for the Alien Registration Card, which years ago were green in color. The cards have gone through various color changes over the years, including pink and white, but today they are green again. The card’s main function is identifying its holder as a lawful permanent or conditional resident of the United States.

While green card holders do give you the right to work legally in the U.S. where and when you wish, that is just one of the many rights that come with permanent residence. Green card holders can also travel in and out of the United States, petition for their spouse and unmarried children to join them in the United States as fellow green card holders, and eventually apply for U.S. citizenship.

If you are eligible for a green card, don’t bother applying if all you really want is a work permit, and actually living in the United States long-term is not your goal.

When you have a green card, you are required to make the U.S. your permanent home. If you don’t, you risk losing your card. If you only spend periods of time in the U.S., but your true home is elsewhere, your card may be revoked. It’s wise not to spend more than six months at a time outside the United States if you want to keep your green card .

All green cards issued to lawful permanent residents since 1989 carry expiration dates of ten years from the date of issue. This does not mean that the residency itself expires in ten years, just that the card must be replaced.

Green cards issued to lawful conditional residents always carry a two-year expiration date. In their case, their status actually will expire if they don’t take steps to convert to permanent residence.

What Is a Work Permit?

Work permits, more commonly known as an employment authorization documents (EADs), are issued to a wide variety of nonimmigrants (temporary visa holders) and to people with applications pending before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Work permits may last for a few months or up to a year (with possible renewals), depending on the visa or other status of their holder.

For example,

a person who entered the United States on a fiancé visa may apply for a work permit that lasts 90 days, to tide the person over until he or she has gotten married and applied for adjustment of status, at which time another, longer-term work permit will be issued to the person.

Among the many other categories of people who need to apply for work permits are asylees, people with Temporary Protected Status, students who will be doing optional practical training or working off campus based on unforeseen economic need, spouses of J-2 exchange visitors, spouses of E-1/E-2 treaty traders and investors and L-1 intracompany transferees, applicants for suspension of deportation, people granted withholding of removal, and more.

In some cases, the right to work comes with a person’s visa status, so that they do not need to apply for an EAD at all.

For people who need to apply for a work permit, the application is made on USCIS Form I-765, available for download on the USCIS website.

Getting Legal Help

If you seek to work legally in the United States, you will in most cases need to have a job offer, a pending application for a green card, or some other right to remain in the United States, such as asylum or Temporary Protected Status. If you are uncertain whether you qualify for a green card or a work permit, or need help with the applications, consult an immigration lawyer

If you have any questions regarding Green Card and Work Permit or any other immigration topic,
Please contact LEGiTiGO, today

@ Home or Work

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ENCOUNTER IMMIGRATION AGENTS AT WORK OR AT HOME


U.S. federal immigration officers have the right to ask an employer for permission to enter a workplace. Every worker in the U.S. must fill out a Form I-9, providing documentation of their authorization to work lawfully in the U.S. Federal immigration officers have the right to examine an employer’s files to inspect these I-9 forms.  After immigration officers enter a workplace — whether it is a store, a restaurant, a farm, an orchard, etc. — they may ask you questions. However, you have the right to refuse to speak to the immigration agents and can remain silent and request to speak to an attorney.

If you encounter an immigration agent at the workplace, at your home or anywhere in between, the following rights and guidelines apply:

AT WORK

1.You have the right to keep silent. If you are questioned by an immigration officer, you do not have to tell the officer your name, where you were born, or what your immigration status is.
2.You have the right to talk with a lawyer before you answer any questions. You may want to give the officer your name so that your family or lawyer can locate you if you are detained.
3.You do not have to “show your papers.” You may simply tell the officer that you want to speak with a lawyer. Even if you have valid immigration papers, immigration officers may still ask you additional questions.

AT HOME

4.You have the right to refuse to let an immigration officer enter your home, unless they present you with an official search warrant signed by a judge. You have the right to ask any officer if they have such a warrant. You may refuse to open the door and request that they slide the warrant under the door for you to inspect. If they show you a signed search warrant with your specific address on it, you are required to let them enter your home.
5.You may remain silent and refuse to let an immigration officer enter your home, even if the officer shows you a signed removal/deportation warrant with your name on it, issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If you choose, you may come out and close the door behind you. This should prevent immigration officers from questioning other people in your home unless they are listed on a warrant.

AT WORK OR AT HOME

6.REMEMBER, you have the right to remain silent and you may request to talk to an attorney.
7.IF YOU ARE DETAINED, you have the right to contact your home country consulate. You also have the right to contact and speak with a lawyer.
8.Never lie about your citizenship status or provide fake documents. If you do, you can face a lifetime bar from the United States.
9.Do not sign any papers without talking to a lawyer. Do not let any immigration officer persuade you to sign any papers by threatening that you will remain in jail or be deported if you do not sign. If you sign any papers at all, you could be giving up any chance of staying in the U.S.

If you have any questions regarding @ Home or Work or any other immigration topic,
Please contact LEGiTiGO, today