Hi! I'm trying to get a good answer to an immigration question. I'd appreciate authoritative pointers, and/or references to good immigration lawyers who can answer this question with me.

In short: I lived in California from 2012 to 2016. I've been out of the US since November 2016, on a contract with a foreign company. My re-entry permit is valid through March 2019. My USCIS-registered address (and driver's license, and bank accounts) are in California. However, I own no property, have no family or posessions in California, and made no money there in 2017. I do not know if it is the state I will move back to in 2019.

I will soon file my 2017 taxes. Filing my 1040 is a no-brainer. But California is a different story, especially since they tax all foreign income.

I've spoken to tax lawyers and a CA Franchise Tax Board representative, and they are all confident that I have no Californian filing requirement for 2017. There is no ambiguity from that angle. No need to file at all. Neither as a resident or a nonresident.

But they cannot answer the immigration question: might USCIS view my non-filing as implicit abandonment of my status?

I have been trying to find a good source on this but, I am not a lawyer!

USCIS B4 states:

If you are a permanent resident and intend to maintain permanent resident status, you should file a Federal tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and any applicable State, city, and local tax returns when required to do so. Under immigration law, a permanent resident who is required to file a tax return as a resident and fails to do so, or who files a nonresident alien tax form, may be considered to have abandoned his or her status and may lose permanent resident status.

The USCIS code of federal regulations (clause 316.5(c)(2) states:

An applicant who is a lawfully admitted permanent resident of the United States (...) fails to file either federal or state income tax returns because he or she considers himself or herself to be a nonresident alien, raises a rebuttable presumption that the applicant has relinquished the privileges of permanent resident status in the United States.

So the nub, I think, is how USCIS views a non-filing. Do they view it as suspicious, or if questioned am I good to say "the CA FTB wrote that I didn't have a filing requirement"?

Frankly, I am confused. The difference is thousands of dollars to pay in CA taxes. I know I won't be the first person with this dilemma. Can anybody offer any pointers? I'd appreciate solid references, the sort I can print and store with my accounts, if such a thing exists.

Thanks!