How long must one stay in the US after 1 yr of travel out of the country (to maintain Green Card status)?

I know that in order to maintain your green card you may only stay out of the US no longer than 1 year. If longer than 1 yr (but shorter than 2 yrs), you must ask for a re-entry permit.|||At http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/m鈥?/a> they actually say that they can consider any stay, even if shorter than one year to take away your green card. I knew of people several years ago having travelled to the US every 6 months to keep their green card status and didn't get caught with it even if they were living elsewhere but I think they are watching people a lot more closely now. Even having a re-entry permit doesn't guarantee that they will let you return.|||A green card is a PERMANENT Resident card. A person who is staying outside the U.S. for more than a year is not here permanently and is subject to having their status revoked. If there is a sick family member or you are obtaining medical treatment outside the U.S. then you have a valid reason to be out and should apply for a re-entry permit BEFORE you leave the U.S. If you don't get the re-entry permit before you leave the U.S. then you are going to need an SB-1 visa to return which you need to apply for and receive overseas before you come home. It is always an officers discretion on whether to admit you into the U.S. or not. If you go out for a year and then make some other long trips you are going to end up coming face to face with an officer who is gonna call you on it. If the officer determines that in his opinion that you have abandoned your residence here then you are gonna have a heap of trouble. Figure out if living here is what you really want at this point. If not you can voluntarily surrender your green card in order to avoid breaking any more rules. If you do surrender it then you will have a lot less problems in the future should you decide to make the U.S. your permanent home. If we have to take it from you it will be much much harder to get it back in the future.|||There is no hard and fast rule. You have to demonstrate that you are a resident of the US, not just using the green card as a super visa. If you are out for, say eleven months, I think that you would need to stay in the US, ignoring any short trips, for a year at least.|||36 months|||no clue