Travel out when on Green Card

[rajeshmathew]

Hi - In Usual cases How long someone can be out of united states when on GC? I was of the impression that it is 1 year. I have also heard people saying that it is safe to be back in 6 months to avoid any hassles. Is that true?

Thanks

[cafeconleche]

6 months is the safe length of time. If you return between 6 months and 1 year, you can be deemed to have abandoned your permanent residence, but this is rarely the case. Still, the chance of hassles is much higher. Another thing that you risk is breaking continuous residence for naturalisation purposes. If you want to stay out for more than 6 months, and you plan on making many long trips like that, get a re-entry permit first.