What if you can't activate CR-1 before expiration?

[MsZ 6]

Is there a way to get an extension on the expiration date of a CR-1 visa?

[YuAndDan 153]

Yes you would visit the US Consulate and see about getting the visa extended.

Note, being a Canadian, why not take a trip to the USA and back, upon entry you will get an I-551 stamp in passport making passport act as a green-card allowing re-entry.

Just don't remain out of USA for longer than 6 months or questions will be asked, and if planning on more than a year out of the USA on the I-551 stamp, then a I-131 needs to be filed to get a re-entry permit.

[pushbrk 13,121]

Yes you would visit the US Consulate and see about getting the visa extended.

Note, being a Canadian, why not take a trip to the USA and back, upon entry you will get an I-551 stamp in passport making passport act as a green-card allowing re-entry.

Just don't remain out of USA for longer than 6 months or questions will be asked, and if planning on more than a year out of the USA on the I-551 stamp, then a I-131 needs to be filed to get a re-entry permit.

I'm not at all certain you could get the expiration extended. Dan's suggestion should be an easy solution. The hindsight solution would have been to delay the interview until you were sure you would be immigrating within six months.

[MsZ 6]

We were lucky that I stopped him from activating his visa as it was. We hadn't considered an issue that needed to be dealt with and that only became apparent the day of his interview. And while we're likely to be able to overcome the glitch, if we can't, it'd be great to have a fallback.

So Montreal would handle this, eh? We'll have to get in touch with them and see what they say. I didn't remember hearing anything about an extension but thought I'd ask just in case. Doesn't hurt to ask.