An immigrant alien who has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence may commence or continue to reside in foreign contiguous territory and commute to his United States place of employment. Such an alien is referred to as a commuter. There are two types of commuters, those who commute regularly, normally entering at least twice weekly, and those who enter to perform seasonal work for extended periods, but whose annual stay in the United States is for less than six months. The latter are referred to as "seasonal commuter", also known as seasonal workers. The seasonal commuter should be differentiated from the resident alien who has been physically present in the United States for more than six months in the aggregate during the past year and therefore is not to be considered within the commuter category.

The provision of 8 CFR 211.5(d) relating to the validity of Form I-551 for reentry purposes when the Secretary of Labor has determined and announced that a labor dispute involving work stoppage or layoff of employees is in progress at a named place of employment, is applicable to all commuters, as described herein. Under its terms the regulation is inapplicable to commuters who are returning to continuous employment in the United States, which was commenced prior to an announcement by the Secretary of Lab or dispute exists. Employment will be considered continuous in the ordinary meaning of the word. When the employment is seasonal or sporadic, it will be considered continuous if the alien involved has accepted no other employment in the United States between the periods of employment. While temporarily laid off by a U. S. employer, the acceptance of employment of short duration in Mexico will not break the continuity of his employment in the United States. (Revised)

The address report filed by every commuter, must show his actual residence address even though it is not in the United States. An alien commuter who has been out of employment in the United States for six months shall, notwithstanding temporary entries in the interi for other than employment purposes, be deemed to have abandoned his commuter status, unless such employment was interrupted for reasons beyond his control. An alien commuter may not proceed toward naturalization until he has taken up actual pe rmanent residence in the United States for the required statutory period. Residence in the United States, for this purpose, will begin with the commuter filing Form I-90 in person, without fee. Upon being issued replacement Form I-551, the Form I-151 or I-551 previously issued shall be surrendered. (Revised)