My wife is a Japanese national and US green card holder (25 yrs). We are considering moving back to Japan for at least part time residence and curious if anyone with the same immigration status has experience splitting time between the two countries (e.g. 6 months of the year in each) and whether they have had any hassles when returning to the US? Online sources suggest a 1-year cliff before they start asking questions, but I also understand that it can be a gray area, and at the discretion of the border officer.
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This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Splitting time between US and Japan on a Green Card**
My wife is a Japanese national and US green card holder (25 yrs). We are considering moving back to Japan for at least part time residence and curious if anyone with the same immigration status has experience splitting time between the two countries (e.g. 6 months of the year in each) and whether they have had any hassles when returning to the US? Online sources suggest a 1-year cliff before they start asking questions, but I also understand that it can be a gray area, and at the discretion of the border officer.
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She has to be in the USA for a minimum of 180 days a year to keep the green card. If they take it away, she never gets another.
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You need to chose a nation. She can willingly give up the green card and then if you chose to return, YOU (the US citizen spouse) can ask immigration to reinstate her original card and number.
TLDR: I am not a lawyer, but from what I have read and experienced it is worth getting Global Entry and avoiding continuous absences longer than 1 year.
On [this](https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/international-travel-permanent-resident) USCIS webpage see the answer to the question “Does travel outside the United States affect my permanent resident status?” Basically green card holders can be considered to have given up their residency even with absences less than 6 months. USCIS says that they make the determination on whether the green card holder still intends to make the US their permanent home, and provides examples of what is used to make that determination.
There are several time thresholds that apply: 180 days, 1 year and 2 years.
One threshold is 180 days. According to what I copied from a CPB webpage (but unfortunately the link is now broken), “LPRs who are out of the U.S. for more than 180 days are subject to new immigrant inspection procedures as per 8 USC 1101.” But I can tell you from my experience that the immigration officers don’t seem to care and would sometimes question my spouse when we are out for less than 180 days and sometimes would not question my spouse when we are out for more than 180 days. It seems to be at the whim of the immigration officer. But interestingly, once my spouse got Global Entry she was never questioned again. It seems to me that the immigration officers in the Global Entry line are not in the mindset to question people.
A related concern about exceeding 180 days is that it may interrupt continuous residency when applying for citizenship. If your wife does not plan to apply for citizenship then this will not be a concern for her.
There is also a 1 year threshold. On the same USCIS webpage linked above, see the answer to “What if my trip abroad will last more than 1 year?” (I edited the following to correct an error in my first post.) The I-131 can be used to apply for a re-entry permit which is valid up to 2 years. However the application and subsequent identity check must both be done from the US. Also it cannot be extended. My spouse did this twice in the past and it was kind of a hassle. Now she just avoids being absent for more than 1 year so she doesn’t have to re-apply.
And then there is a 2 year threshold discussed in the same section I referred to in the paragraph above. Clearly this 2 year threshold is something to avoid, because the green card holder would need to apply for a returning resident visa.
EDIT:
I also recommend reading the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association’s [Know Your Rights: What to Do if You are Detained at a Port of Entry (Lawful Permanent Residents)](https://www.aila.org/files/o-files/view-file/B8A73B6C-0D3A-4F2A-82EB-F4A13ED6A60F). Basically, if your wife does get questioned at immigration and they try to influence her to sign a form relinquishing residence, she does not have to sign it. In fact it’s in her best interest not to sign it. Read the document for full details.