Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Re-Entry Permits and SB-1 Returning Resident Visas. I am making this video because this is a topic that often gets conflated. I see a lot of, again I hate the words misinformation, disinformation but I just see a lot of just incorrect, inaccurate data out in the ether of the internet, I thought of making this video.

So what is a Re-Entry Permit? A Re-Entry Permit, for example if you have Lawful Permanent Residence in the United States, AKA a green card, and you are looking to go abroad; you may be abroad for a while. It is a very good idea in order to forestall any kind of later scrutiny on the issue of intention to abandon residence, which can be problematic when passing through US Customs and Border Protection after a prolonged absence from the United States, even if you never intended to give up your residence in the United States, they can start asking about it and it is not exactly the most pleasant process to go through. One of the ways to forestall this is to get a Re-Entry Permit. With an issued Re-Entry Permit the question of abandonment of residence is completely mooted because you have taken steps to forestall that question even arising. Now again, they are issued for a certain duration, 2 years to be specific, but at the end of the day they sort of forestall the issue of someone saying you abandoned your residence. 

Compare that now with the SB-1 Returning Resident Visa. Big thing when you are comparing the two is Re-Entry Permits are processed in the United States; they are adjudicated in the United States and they are issued in the United States although they can be sent abroad if one goes abroad after dealing with some of the process. Meanwhile the SB-1 Returning Resident Visa is fully issued outside of the United States. There is an adjudication process, it's very similar to the Consular processing component of the Immigrant Visa process, either the IR-1 or the CR-1. The major issue that is being adjudicated in an SB-1 adjudication is again abandonment of residence; did someone intend to abandon their residence by being abroad for too long? If the SB-1 is issued, then that person is allowed to use that travel document to re-enter and take up their residence once again in the United States. 

So these are two different kinds of travel documents. One is sort of used in advance, one sort of is used in response to usually unforeseen situations that keep people overseas, but there is a difference between these two types of travel documents.