Giving up your Greencard--then visiting US family...what happens?

Hi everybody

      Very glad to have found this site with all the great information on it! My DH has his Greencard here but we're planning a move to the UK and were wondering what happens when he comes back into the US with me to visit family, etc. Will they take the Greencard from him if he's been gone more than 6 months? Will he be allowed in? So many questions!
    His 2yr Greencard has another 6+mths on it, but then we would have to pay to renew it and with us moving, we didn't see much point as he'd likely lose it anyway for being out of the country too long.
    Any experience with this situation? Info, Ideas, etc. Thanks!

Is there any chance he could obtain US citizenship before you move to the UK? 

 
   I know citizenship would be the easiest route, but he's only had his greencard for about 1.5yrs as it took almost a year to get it due to the backlog here in the US processing them.  Honestly, he doesn't have a lot of interest in that route since it was pretty much a nightmare dealing with the greencard stuff and among other things put him off the US for a while   and I'm quite happy to make the move to the UK anyway where I'll hopefully acquire citizenship so that we can have a passport in common
   I don't forsee us moving back to the US in the next 10yrs or so with the plan we have in place now--but obviously, would like for him to be able to fly in with me and visit family at the holidays, etc. without hassle. I just don't know how the whole had a greencard and then gave it up thing works out for visitors to the US in the future--does he still qualify for the VWP in the future? Thanks!

If you are that far into the process maybe hanging it out for a little longer would be good because getting your visa to return to the US is now just as painful (expensive) and so much more to go through here I would say wait till he gets his citizenship in another 1.5 years and then move back.

We did it the other way and I just got my UK Citizenship its been a long struggle but worth it in the end as  I can now move freely back and forth.

I would consider very hard giving up your green card incase you decide to move back to the US any time soon, or at least renew it.

But try diveintoamerica.com for more info about all of this.

Good luck

Indy

If he can hang on and get his US citizenship so that he has options for either country in the future, I would say do that. I've given up my greencard and I regret that bitterly.

I relate to your husband's tedious process -- mine was nuts too; there was a year backlog and they even lost my application in the system a total of three times. After my experience I too was in no mood to go ahead and go forward with citizenship too. I can relate. But now that I've messed up by losing my status, I wish I had.

Just my two cents, relating to your husband's situation, if it can help any.

just to pop in and say that my US citizenship application was a breeze and only took 4 months (3.5 years ago)  I was really surprised because I know what a nightmare the system can be, but it was 100% worth going for it.

But if you do give it up, then it's likely your DH will need to surrender his green card at some point (probably when you return to the US for a visit once the IO figures out that he's moved to the UK) and you might get some questions but there generally shouldn't be a problem with coming back to the US for visits.

If it were me, I would delay the move over until he can obtain his citizenship.  DH lived in the states from 1992-2005 and had a green card, but never went for his citizenship.  When we moved over, he used this form
http://www.usembassy.org.uk/dhs/uscis/abandon.html
to surrender his green card.  They send back a completed copy and DH has to have that whenever he goes back to the States.  He has not had any problems with entering the States since surrendering his green card.
The reason that I suggest that he gets his US citizenship is that is gives you more options.  Plans can and do change. 

If it were me, I would delay the move over until he can obtain his citizenship.  DH lived in the

The reason that I suggest that he gets his US citizenship is that is gives you more options.  Plans can and do change. 

I second this, with bells on.

I second this, with bells on.

Definitely.  I lost my green card status through being out of the U.S. over the stipulated period (in fact I haven't been back at all since I returned to England in 1996).   I wish I'd found some way to have retained it.

Thanks for the input everyone I guess the trouble is--do we spend the $$$ to continue trying to keep the greencard while we're away, when we could lose it anyway and have to spend even more $$$ after that to reapply again....it just seems like it would be such a stress to try and keep it, I'm not sure it would be worth it...We're moving over in the next month or two (fingers crossed on my visa!) and staying here isn't really an option right now. We were planning on coming back for Thanksgiving this year, so we'd only be out of the country for less than 6mths...would that trip "reset" the clock for time out of the country? Meaning, would we be good for another 6mths out without losing it, or not?
   
      I added things up--it's $545 to file for his 10yr greencard, and $305 for the re-entry permit so he can be out of the country for 2yrs without losing his card....that's $850 and it's $1010 to refile altogether in the future should we want to move back...I just can't swallow having to apply for these and then reapply again later down the line. I feel like they've already squeezed more than enough money out of me

we are using the form above to say my dh is willfully giving up his status. I did read they send you something which you should bring when you travel to the US. If we ever decide to move to the US again we will just do dcf like last time. It was so much easier and we had the greencard in under 6 months. Best of luck.

You may have been in the US for long enough to get citizenship - it only has to be physical presence for half the total time required i.e. 18mo out of 3y for spouse of USC.

My husband surrendered his green card. 
He didn't want to but US Immigation told him he had to do this. 

You may have been in the US for long enough to get citizenship - it only has to be physical presence for half the total time required i.e. 18mo out of 3y for spouse of USC.

but there is a limit on how long you can be out in one stay. I know because my husband and i were in the UK for one year. He filed for his greencard 10 years ago, got it like 7.5 years ago (yes it took that long). During our one year UK stay we were out of the US for 7 months and then 5 months (one trip back in between). Since we were out of the country for more than 6 months it resets his time. So he has to wait a full 3 years more from the day we entered on that interim trip before we can apply for his citizenship.

There are lots of requirements for citizenship, not just a one liner