Mike

Lawful permanent residents or conditional permanent residents who wish to remain outside the United States for more than one year, but less than two, require a re-entry permit. A reentry permit is not required for a trip that is shorter than one year. (You should note that an absence of more than one year will break the period of continuous residence required to become a citizen, even if a reentry permit is issued.) A Reentry Permit is also issued to Lawful Permanent Residents who want to travel outside the United States, but cannot get a national passport from their country of nationality.

Re-entry permit enables a permanent resident of the U.S. come back to the U.S. after traveling abroad for longer than one year, but shorter than two years. Usually, a green card enables the green card holder to travel outside the U.S. for one year or shorter period. If a permanent resident travels abroad for a period longer than one year, the person faces a risk of not allowing to come back to the U.S. on the ground that the person abandoned his or her permanent resident status. A Re-entry Permit can be used to stay out of US up to 2 years. It also serves as a passport to home country to a permanent resident of the U.S. if he/she has no passport.

Aliens in the United States are not eligible for a re-entry permit if they are not permanent residents or conditional permanent residents of the U.S.

A Re-entry permit, just like US green card, does not guarantee admission into the United States. Aliens who have obtained a Re-entry Permit are still subject to the USCIS inspection process at the port of entry. Usually, the aliens with re-entry permit may be allowed to enter into the U.S. as long as re-entry permit is valid.

A re-entry permit is generally valid for two years. However, if the permanent resident of the U.S. has been abroad for accumulative four years in the past five years, the USCIS may at its discretion only approve a re-entry permit with one year valid duration. Within its valid duration, the permanent resident of the U.S. may make multiple entries into the U.S. by using a re-entry permit.

Those permanent residents who remain outside the United States for more than two years must obtain a "special immigrant" visa at a U.S. consulate abroad, in order to re-enter the United States.

Please note that neither the Reentry Permit, nor the greencard (for trips taking less than one year), nor the "special immigrant" visa, will guarantee that a permanent resident will be readmitted in the United States. The USCIS officer always has the right to refuse entry to any permanent resident if he or she deems that the individual has either abandoned the intent to remain permanently in the United States, or has committed a crime, or falls within one of the grounds for exclusion under U.S. immigration law.

A permit to reenter has no effect under the immigration laws except to show that the person to whom issued is returning from a temporary visit abroad and relieve him or her of the necessity of securing a visa from an American Consulate before returning to the United States. It does not relieve him or her from meeting the other requirements of the immigration laws. Persons who have been convicted of or admit having committed a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude either before or after entering the United States, other criminal, immoral, insane, mentally or physically defective aliens, those afflicted with loathsome or contagious diseases, and others found to be inadmissible under the immigration laws are subject to exclusion if attempting to reenter, notwithstanding they may be in possession of permits to reenter.

Application
To apply for re-entry permit, you should submit following documents:
Form I-131 (Application for Travel Document)
Photocopy of green card
Two ADIT style photographs. See complete specification.
Filing fee of $80 payable either by check or money order.
Applications for a re-entry permit or refugee travel document should be sent with the supporting documentation and fees to the Nebraska Service Center. If you think you may have to leave the United States before the re-entry permit is received, you may have it sent to a U.S. Consulate or USCIS office overseas for pick up. There is a place on the Form I-131 to furnish the information necessary to receive the re-entry permit outside of the United States. However, even though you may receive the re-entry permit overseas, the application must be submitted while you are still in the United States.

It usually takes about 2 to 3 months for the USCIS to process a Re-entry Permit application. To check the status of your application, please contact the USCIS office that received your application. In this case, it is Nebraska Service Center.

Not an advance parole
Re-entry Permit is NOT an Advanced Parole.

There are several differences:

• An Advanced Parole is issued to an alien who does not have permanent resident(green card) status. A re-entry permit is issued to a permanent resident of the U.S.
• An advanced parole is a piece of paper with the alien's photo whereas a re-entry permit looks like a passport.
• An Advanced Parole serves similar to a visa to the U.S. while a re-entry permit functions sometimes like a passport. Alien with an Advanced Parole still needs a foreign passport to enter into the U.S. while a permanent resident with a re-entry permit does not need a foreign passport to enter into the U.S.
• An Advanced Parole is valid for one year whereas a re-entry permit is valid for two years.

Appeal
If your application for a re-entry permit is denied, the denial letter will tell you how to appeal. Generally, you may appeal within 33 days of receiving the denial. Your appeal must be filed on Form I-290B. The appeal must be filed with the office that made the original decision. After your appeal form and a required fee are processed, the appeal will be referred to the Administrative Appeals Unit (AAU) in Washington, DC. (Sending the appeal and fee directly to the AAU will delay the process.)

Consequences on Citizenship
Re-entry permit does not relieve the person to whom issued from meeting the requirements of the naturalization laws. Notwithstanding the possession of a reentry permit, absence from the United States by an applicant for naturalization for a continuous period of one year or more during the period for which continuous residence in the United States is required for admission to citizenship will break the continuity of such residence, except where, prior thereto, the Attorney General has approved an absence in the employment of, or under contract with, the United States Government or an American institution of research recognized as such by the Attorney General, or in the employment of an American firm or corporation, engaged in whole or part in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States or a subsidiary thereof, more than 50 percent of whose stock is owned by an American firm or corporation, or in the employment of a public international organization of which the United States is a member by treaty or statute and by which the alien was not employed until after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence. In order to qualify for such approval the applicant must have been physically present and residing in the United States, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, for an uninterrupted period of at least one year. The granting of such approval does not exempt the applicant from the requirement that he or she be physically present in the United States for at least one-half of the period of residence required for naturalization except in the case of those persons who are employed by, or under contract with, the Government of the United States; those persons who are authorized to perform the ministerial or priestly functions of a religious denomination having a bona fide organization within the United States; and those persons who are engaged solely by a religious denomination or by an interdenominational mission organization having a bona fide organization within the United States as a missionary, brother, nun, or sister. Such approval should be applied for on Form N-470, "Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes (under section 316(b) or 317, Immigration and. Nationality Act)" available at any office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Aliens who are absent in connection with or for the purpose of performing the ministerial or priestly functions of a religious denomination having a bona fide organization in the United States, or who are engaged by such a denomination or an interdenominational mission organization having a bona fide organization within the United States, as a missionary, brother, nun, or sister, are also eligible to make such application. Such aliens may acquire the required one year of uninterrupted physical presence after the absence.