Let's take one step beyond into what might be the twilight zone.

I would really appreciate information from someone who has been DIRECTLY involved in this process. PLEASE, I'm not interested in what your your neighbor did, what you think, etc.

I am an American citizen, legally married to a Panamanian citizen. The marriage was here in Mexico.

What is involved in getting my wife a "Green Card" or whatever it is that will allow her to live w/me in the U.S.

Thanks

Here are the standard requirements for a visa... Recommended that this be approved before submitting for a green card.
An application form (DS 160 for non-immigrant visas or DS 260 for immigrant visas)
A passport which six months valid beyond your planned stay in the US.
Two photographs that comply with the photograph requirements.
Paid visa fee to be able to schedule an interview.
8 mar. 2019

And you have to live in the USA.

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:
Move to another country intending to live there permanently.

Remain outside of the U.S. for more than one year without obtaining a re-entry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned, any length of absence from the U.S. may be considered, even if it is less than one year.

Remain outside of the U.S. for more than two years after issuance of a re-entry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the U.S. may be considered, even if it is less than one year.

Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the U.S. for any period.

Declare yourself a "nonresident" on your tax returns.

gpbasap wrote:And you have to live in the USA.

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:
Move to another country intending to live there permanently.

Remain outside of the U.S. for more than one year without obtaining a re-entry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned, any length of absence from the U.S. may be considered, even if it is less than one year.

Remain outside of the U.S. for more than two years after issuance of a re-entry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the U.S. may be considered, even if it is less than one year.

Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the U.S. for any period.

Declare yourself a "nonresident" on your tax returns.

Thank you VERY much. I didn't know about this and will make it a point to query any immigration attorney in the U.S. that I may employ.

Unless getting a green card was part of the deal you may find it easier for your wife to use tourist visas to the USA.


It is very important to understand that you have been given a green card (permanent resident card) to stay here in USA permanently. That means, you must stay primarily in the United States. You can travel outside United States for less than 6 months in a given year without having any problem in general. Absences abroad of more than six months but less than 1 year create a reasonable presumption that you intended to abandon your residence. You must never abandon the intention of continuing to stay permanently in the United States. Once, you abandon that intention (such as by intending to reside permanently in some other country), you loose the right to keep your green card. Please note that simply returning to the U.S. once a year for several weeks to use the green card is not enough. In practice, USCIS may not catch you, but if they do, they can place you in exclusion proceedings (first step in canceling a green card when a green card holder is trying to enter the United States) when they do suspect that you are actually not living in the United States. USCIS looks at the person's ties to the U.S. to determine the intent. They may look at family ties, property holdings, business affiliations, length of stay outside the U.S. and local community ties. They will compare the existence of these factors in the U.S. vs. similar ties outside the U.S.

However, if you must stay for an extended period outside the U.S., taking the following steps may help you retain the green card. Even if you take all the precautions, there is no guarantee that you will be allowed to enter the U.S. as a permanent resident. There may be other reasons not to let you enter the U.S., e.g., committing a crime involiving moral turpitude.
If you own real estate in the U.S., do not sell it prior to leaving the U.S. Consider renting your house, condominium etc. instead of selling it.

Maintain your savings account in the U.S. Some employers, when assigning an employee overseas, would continue to pay the employee in U.S. dollars, directly depositing the salary into the employee's US bank account.

Maintain correspondence with all your friends and family in the U.S.

Maintain a U.S. address, even if it is the home of a friend or a relative. Do not have a resort or hotel address as a U.S. address. Do not use "care of" for your address, if possible.

Keep all your telephone bills showing various calls to the U.S.

Continue to maintain your U.S. driver's license and all credit cards. Make sure that the address on your license is the same as that recorded on any immigration documents. Carry your driver's license when entering the U.S.

Document the reasons for a long stay abroad. If you are going to stay outside the U.S. because of overseas transfer by a U.S. employer, obtain a written employment contract or letter from your employer specifying the terms and length of employment. If the employment will lead to a transfer back to the U.S., or to a U.S. based affiliate of the foreign employer, the contract or statement should include this fact.

Do NOT return to the U.S. with a spouse and/or children who are neither U.S. citizens nor green card holders, especially if they will be in the U.S., only for a short time.

Do NOT arrive at a port of entry functioning as a gateway to a resort area.

Do NOT enter the U.S. on a round-trip ticket that terminates outside the U.S.

Do NOT arrive via chartered air carrier where nearly all passengers are nonimmigrant.

Do NOT return to the U.S. using any form of nonimmigrant visa. e.g., if you stay outside the U.S. for longer than 1 year, without having obtained a Re-entry Permit, do NOT return to the U.S. on a tourist visa. Instead, apply to the U.S. embassy/consulate in your home country for a Special Immigrant Visa.

If possible, it is preferable that immediate family members, including any spouse, children, and parents, remain in the U.S.

Pay any house mortgage or car loan timely, and keep all records of payment.

Maintain professional or social memberships and continue to pay the fees timely, receiving journals or attending annual meetings.

Re-entry Permit
Don't leave the United States for an extended period of time or move to another country to live there permanently.

If you are planning to stay outside United States for more than 1 year but less than 2 years, you must get a Re-entry Permit before leaving the United States. This is an indication that the USCIS has accepted your explanation that your intention is to stay abroad for 1-2 years as a temporary matter. But if you repeatedly keep applying for re-entry permit, USCIS may deny your application as they would determine that you do not intend to keep your permanent residence in the U.S.

File Form N-470, Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes. Form N-470 lets you keep your residence status for naturalization purposes under certain circumstances.

How is most of this pertinent to his situation when he is a US citizen? The fact that he resides in Mexico has no bearing, particularly, if he intends to return to live in the US.

It is pertinent to his wife who is a Panamanian citizen and that is for whom he enquired in the OP.

Maybe the way it was phrased confused me. "It is very important to understand that you have been given a green card " when the wife doesn't have a green card.

I’m thinking that if it were me in this situation, I’d be asking these questions at the US Embassy and not to a bunch of goof-balls on a Mexican website....

I dunno, I found the information interesting.. the complexity of it & the tricks to 'proving ' residency in USA were fascinating, regardless of the basic green card issue. The micro level to which Amerika establishes 'residency' based on basic things... wow is all I can say. Thank you, gsbasap. there are lessons to be learned here.

RickS wrote:I’m thinking that if it were me in this situation, I’d be asking these questions at the US Embassy and not to a bunch of goof-balls on a Mexican website....

If you notice, I asked for input from someone who was through the process.

I very much appreciate the poster(s) who did the research for me and sent it to me. These are the people who understand the purpose of this forum, which is in part to help people.

Helping people is one thing. Enabling them is another.

You could have done the search for the information yourself. If you can't find anything, THEN you ask for assistance.

ferret wrote:Helping people is one thing. Enabling them is another.

You could have done the search for the information yourself. If you can't find anything, THEN you ask for assistance.

Yes, I could have done the research and come up w/the same information. I have learned in life that what is written as rules/laws/procedures may not be haw it works in real-time. This is why I asked for anyone with personal, hands-on experience.

You can find a routing with a map or GPS, but it won't tell you conditions of the roads, etc. That's why I asked what I did in the way I did and from who I did.

“If you notice, I asked for input from someone who was through the process.”

I am sure all the posters here who are American citizens married in Mexico to someone from a third country who got a U.S. resident visa for their spouse to live in the U.S. will be joining in the discussion shortly.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:“If you notice, I asked for input from someone who was through the process.”

I am sure all the posters here who are American citizens married in Mexico to someone from a third country who got a U.S. resident visa for their spouse to live in the U.S. will be joining in the discussion shortly.

I figured that and didn't need the reassurance.

ROTFLMAO Lady O.

Ditto.

Ditto Plus!

My appreciation to all who gave me relevant information.

I think it's time to lock this thread as it has served its main purpose, to get information.

And BTW, there was no deal for a green card to be part of. Her daughter is a U.S. citizen and y wife has a 10-year visa.