Chapter 14 After Your Approval for a Green Card

• Library: U.S. Immigration Made Easy (Nolo) (2023 Ed.)

CHAPTER 14 After Your Approval for a Green Card

A. How to Prove You're a U.S. Resident

B. Traveling Abroad

C. Your Immigrating Family Members' Rights

D. Losing Your Permanent Resident Status

E. How to Renew or Replace Your Green Card

1. Renewing Expiring Green Cards
2. Replacing Lost or Stolen Green Cards
3. Correcting USCIS Errors on Your Green Card
4. Dealing With Green Cards That Never Arrive

F. Green Cards and U.S. Citizenship

G. Green Cards and U.S. Taxes

If you're reading this after becoming a permanent or conditional resident, congratulations! But don't stop reading. This chapter will give you important tips on how to protect and enjoy your new status.

A. How to Prove You're a U.S. Resident

Whether you came through a consulate outside the U.S. or applied for adjustment of status in the U.S., you won't get an actual green card right away. Until the card arrives, a temporary stamp in your passport will serve as evidence of your permanent resident status (or, for newly married or investor applicants, your conditional resident status). This stamp, in blue ink, is often called an "I-551 stamp" or "ADIT stamp." You can show it to employers or use it to travel in and out of the United States.

You might, unfortunately, have to wait several weeks or months for the actual green card to arrive. If you're over the age of 18, the law requires you to carry your green card or other evidence of your status at all times. But keep a photocopy of it in a safe place, in case it's lost or stolen—this will make it much easier to get a replacement card from USCIS.

If you applied to adjust status at a USCIS office in the States and were not approved in person, you'll receive a notification letter from USCIS, on Form I-797.

Many immigrants who receive this letter don't understand what it means, and a few have tossed it in the trash. This letter, however, is an official notice of approval for residency. A sample is shown below. When you receive it, be sure to keep it safe with other important records. Unfortunately, the letter alone cannot be used for employment or for travel abroad. If you need to update employment records or to travel, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 to request an appointment and then take your approval notice with your passport to your local USCIS office, where your passport will be stamped to show that you're a resident. In recent years USCIS substantially reduced the availability of local office appointments and often requires people to wait days or weeks for a return call to arrange the appointment.

CAUTION

Don't let your ADIT stamp expire. The temporary stamp in your passport could expire before you get your green card. This doesn't mean you've lost your legal right to live in the United States, but it can be inconvenient if you're working or are traveling abroad. If you see that the stamp is about to expire, call the USCIS Contact Center (800-375-5283) to request an appointment at your local USCIS office to obtain another stamp. They probably won't be able to tell you exactly when your card will arrive, since the card is being manufactured in a USCIS factory elsewhere, but they might give you an estimate.

Sample Notice of Action

Despite Relaxation of Rules During Pandemic, Spending Long Periods Outside the U.S. Could Again Pose a Problem

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and then as travel became more possible, staying abroad for more than a year was not always a problem. Many U.S. residents returned to the U.S. after more than a year abroad without first getting a reentry permit or a returning resident permit (as would have been required pre-pandemic). U.S. immigration officials recognized the problems that travel restrictions created and therefore simply allowed U.S. lawful residents to return after long absences without much scrutiny. With travel again becoming more routine, however, this relaxed stance is likely to disappear. Therefore, apply for a reentry permit if you plan to be abroad for more than a year or be sure to return before you've been away from the U.S. for a year.

B. Traveling Abroad

There's no question about it—travel outside the United States is one of your rights as a conditional or permanent resident. But don't stay away too long. As the term "resident" suggests, you are expected to reside—that is, make your home—in the United States. If you make your home outside the United States, you could lose your green card.

U.S. border officers have the power to decide whether returning green card holders are living outside the country. The officer will ask when you left the United States, what you were doing while away, and where you make your home.

Being away for longer than six months will definitely raise suspicion; being away for more than a year all but guarantees that you will have to attend an Immigration Court hearing before you can reclaim your U.S. residency and green card.

Before deciding whether you have abandoned your residency, the U.S. border officer will look at other factors besides the length of time you were away. The officer might note whether you:

• pay U.S. taxes
• own a home or apartment or have a long-term lease in the United States
• were employed in the foreign country
• took your family to the foreign country
• are returning to the U.S. with a oneway ticket or a round-trip ticket back to the foreign country, and
• maintained other ties with the United States.

If you're coming back after a trip of several months, you can make your entry to the United States easier by bringing copies of documents that show that your home base is still in the...