Originally Posted by
stupidhead
I don't understand the reasoning for this. You're still a "resident" here as long as you maintain a permanent address within the US. Common sense-wise, the number of times you temporarily leave the country is, frankly, irrelevant. Or is this the INS bureaucrats just being difficult?
If you've applied for but not yet been granted permanent resident (I-551) status you can't leave the US without "advance parole" while the application is pending. Once you have the card, even if you lose the card, you can still come and go; it's just a lot harder to come back in.