The importance of Reentry Permits for EB-5 investors

As an EB-5 investor, understanding the importance of re-entry permits is crucial. These permits allow you to travel outside the United States for extended periods without risking your permanent resident status. By ensuring you have a valid re-entry permit, you can protect your investment, mitigate legal risks, and enhance your overall experience as an EB-5 investor.

This is particularly important for immigrant investors or their family members who may need to travel frequently for business or personal reasons.

Reentry Permit

Lawful permanent residents have restrictions on how long they can remain outside U.S. territory before their immigration status is impacted negatively. For immigrants looking to have a residence outside of the states or live abroad for over six months, it is recommended to apply for a reentry permit immediately upon entering the country. 

Reentry permits allow for an individual to travel outside the country for up to two years at a time without impacting the immigrant’s status. This is a fantastic opportunity for overseas immigrants because often, EB-5 investors need flexibility. They are business owners and entrepreneurs with close ties and assets in another country. A unique challenge is unpredictability about when they will receive their visas and have to immigrate, which the reentry permit allows for flexibility with.

Additionally, a reentry permit acts as a “heads up” to USCIS officials that you will be outside the states for an extended period of time and signals to the government that you do not plan to abandon your immigrant status. 

Most countries, especially Europe, also allow for immigrants to use the permit as a passport in the case that a) their country of residence will not issue a passport, b) their destination will not accept their passport, or c) the individual is stateless. In these cases, the visa stamps are stamped directly into the permit rather than an official passport. However, for most EB-5 immigrants, this will not be the case.

The reentry permit takes 6-12 months for USCIS to issue, which is why it is crucial to apply as soon as possible for this document. Furthermore, you must complete a biometrics exam in the US before applying. Because it takes about five weeks to receive the results of these exams, and the long period required for issuance, applying for this card as early as possible is absolutely necessary for green card holders planning to return to their country of origin for an extended period of time.

Reentry permits cannot be extended and must be reapplied for after 2 years. Keep this in mind as you apply for it to avoid complications later on, such as being forced to attend immigration appeals court to prove you did not abandon your status. Valid re entry permits, in tandem with strong ties to the US and ample time spent in the states, will prevent any abandonment claims that USCIS or CBP may levy on you, and will protect against abandonment claims that may be brought up during naturalization.

Note: There is no official limit on how many reentry permits you can apply for, but if you reside outside of the US for four out of five years on your green card, you will be issued another reentry permit which is only good for one year. Furthermore, if you are on a conditional green card, your reentry permit cannot be issued for longer than the terms of your conditional card. This means that you will have to reapply for a reentry permit when you file your conditional residence extension or upon your conditional green card’s extended validity period ending.

If you are not present in the US for at least half the time you have your green card, conditional or not, you may lead to delays with naturalization in the future. US officials will look closely to see that you have actively maintained strong ties in the US through family, employment, taxes, etc, especially for the last 3-5 years prior to applying for citizenship. Therefore, if evidence is found that you maintained somewhat “weak” ties and resided outside of the US for the majority of your green card period, you may be denied citizenship and may still be found to be abandoning your resident status despite complying with all other requirements. To determine whether this may be a concern with you, check with your immigration attorney.