Questions about Travel outside US

[Roxyroo 1]

Hi VJ,

My husband had his interview Tuesday and said it was a breeze. Didn't ask for any evidence, only asked 3 questions (Why had he not stayed in the US on the K-1 visa we got last year-Answer: no jobs; Where was I? Answer-Already back in the US, looking for jobs; Who was the person on the I-864? Answer-My dad). Told him a few minutes later that visa was approved.

So, our question is about travel.

I unfortunately am a public school teacher, and we all know how the job market for THAT is right now. My husband also is a teacher, in Colombia, and his last day of school is June 30. That is also when he would have to sign a new contract to return the next year or not.

We were planning on not. However, the job prospects here for me are dismal at the moment and we started talking about him maybe going back to his job, maybe for the first semester, Aug 1 to Dec, because we can't BOTH quit decent jobs in Colombia and come here and be unemployed.

Things are very up in the air right now, but Question 1 is: It's no problem for him to be out of the US for 4-5 months, right?

If we were to do this, the idea is he would come here for the month of July (his summer vacation) to visit, and then go back to work. Not the whole year, just first semester max. Would that be weird in any way with his status?

The second part is because this is DCF, I understand he enters the US, gets his passport stamped LPR and the green card will come in the mail.

Question 2 is this: If he can only be here for the month of July if he has to go back, what if he has to leave before his green card comes in the mail?? Won't that be a problem at CBP when he comes back to the US?

Thanks VJers!

[HeatDeath 430]

Once he has his green card or I-551 stamp, which he will get at PoE, leaving for 5 months should not be a problem, if it's done only once. CBP start getting sticky about whether you actually maintained a residence in the US after 6 months, and after a year you need a re-entry permit for sure. They also get sticky if you show a long term pattern of staying outside the US for extended periods of time bracket only by brief stays in the US, and can do so even if those extended trips are short - it becomes a question of where are you spending most of the time.

But a single, isolated trip of 5 months to be followed by an extended->permanent stay in the US should not be a problem.

To your second question, he needs to make sure, when he PoEs, to tell them that he will be traveling again fairly soon, in all likelihood before his GC shows up, and that he will need the I-551 passport stamp (assuming they don't just give it to him automatically). [He doesn't need to tell them how long that trip will be, unless they ask directly, in which case he should emphasize it's shortness and isolated nature.] That stamp is generally good for one year, and is a green card for all intents and purposes. He can reenter the US with that stamp, no problem at all.

[Roxyroo 1]

Thanks, that is really helpful information.