Keeping Your Green Card After You Get It- Follow These Rules to Maintain Your Status
By: Jeff Mckee | Posted: 26th November 2010
Keeping Your Green Card After You Get It
Follow these rules to maintain your status as a permanent resident of the U.S
There are few conditions that a person should follow you if he or she wants to retain the green card, he has got for life. For one thing, you should not go against any immigration or criminal laws including one law that necessitates you to inform the immigration authorities within 10 days if you change your address. For another, you must not give up the United States as your permanent residence.
In case of violation of law
People can lose their right to a green card if they commit a crime. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't have to be a felony or a big crime. For example, a person can be deported for assisting a person to enter the United States illegally, for carrying out domestic violence, for holding even a small amounts of drugs, or for any crime that's regarded morally wrong (like theft, fraud, a crime with the intention of doing great physical damage to someone, or a sex crime). Some of these crimes are categorized as misdemeanors and for them a person does not have to spend time in jail.
Having said that, there is no fixed list that categorizes which crimes make a person deportable. If a person is arrested for anything at all, discuss with a criminal lawyer and also an immigration lawyer to find out whether and how you can stay away from deportation. Very few criminal lawyers have knowledge regarding the US immigration.
A person can also be extradited for few violations that are not under the category of criminal laws. For example, if (USCIS) United States Citizenship Application and Immigration Services gets to know that you got your green card through a fake (sham) marriage, or any other type of dishonest means, you can be sent back to your country.
If a person resides outside the U.S.
Many people falsely have an impression that to keep your green card all that is required is that you visit U.S. at least once a year. The fact is that if you ever go out of the U.S. with the motive of making some other country your permanent home, you end up losing your U.S. residency when you leave. The border officials will comprehend your behavior for signs that your main place of residence is not the United States.
As a basic rule, if you have a green card and leave the U.S. for more than one year, you will face problems when you want to renter the country. This is due to the fact that the U.S. government feels that an absence for a period more than one year indicates a possible abandonment of U.S. residence.
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Tags: contrary to popular belief, intention, fraud, crimes, domestic violence, felony, permanent residence, deportation, green card, criminal lawyer, us immigration, misdemeanors, immigration lawyer, criminal lawyers, permanent resident, immigration services