U.S. Immigration law does not restrict the number of visits by immigrants with multiple entry visas who never overstay

Q: This winter, my mother came to visit me and stayed six months. She left before her stay expired. Can she come back after just three months abroad? My mom has a 10-year, multiple entry visitor’s visa. She has been here to visit several times.

Agnes, Cortlandt Manor A: The law does not restrict your mother visiting whenever she wishes. However, a border officer will sometimes question a visitor who seems to be spending most of her time here. The officer will want to make sure she has a residence abroad. Given your mother’s travel history showing many visits and no overstays, she shouldn’t have a problem returning to visit after three months abroad.

Q: I petitioned for my wife, but once she got here, she left me. Can she nevertheless naturalize after only three years permanent residence? I am a U.S. citizen. I petitioned for my wife in Jamaica in 2009. Her case took longer than normal and she immigrated in February 2013. A month later she left me.

C.R., Roosevelt Island A: Unless she marries another U.S. citizen or joins the military, your wife cannot naturalize until she has been a permanent resident for at least five years. As I wrote just last week, to qualify to naturalize after only three years, under the special rules for the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the applicant must have been 1) married to a U.S. citizen for three years, 2) living with the U.S. citizen spouse for those three years, and 3) have been a permanent resident during the three years. Since your wife left you, she cannot meet the “living with” requirement.

The law provides for an exemption from the “living with” requirement for involuntary separations, for instance where the couple work in different cities. Also, a short breakup followed by reconciliation may satisfy the requirement. Q: I read your articles explaining that individuals with Temporary Protected Status qualify to enlist in the military under the MAVNI program. I am in college and I want to join the Reserve Officer Training Corps. I have TPS, but the military recruiters I have spoken to say that I need a green card to enlist in the military. Can you help?

Katya, Naples, Florida A: ROTC is for officer training. However, to be an officer, you must be a U.S. citizen, so ROTC scholarships are not available to you. But you may be able to enlist and serve, though not immediately as an officer, if you qualify for the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program. Then, once you enlist, you qualify immediately to naturalize. To enlist under MAVNI, you must speak a needed language or have a needed medical skill. Under MAVNI, you can enlist if you have been here legally for at least two years and you are an asylee, refugee, a person here with TPS or you are in one of many nonimmigrant categories. Many recruiters don’t know about the MAVNI program.

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