Minimum time green card holder can be in US

[rika60607 215]

...or he could get married to his long time partner. Even at age 35, he will likely be given a tourist visa if he is leaving his wife and son behind.

[IrinaNMike 0]

I understand your problem entirely as it is a very common one faced by many people (including us) who never wanted to emigrate, but were also unable to get tourist visas to visit.

Let me offer you a perfectly easy solution: After he gets his green card he can simply go back to Russia and exchange his green card for a tourist visa. Once he's a permanent resident it won't be a problem getting a tourist visa because they'll believe he's not trying to emigrate. He will have to get a tourist visa appointment at the US embassy in Russia and when the interview begins, explain that he wants to abandon his LPR status, hand over the abandonment of residence form, and the officer will grant his tourist visa. This is the way it works in India and I'm sure the same thing will work in Russia. It's a perfectly legal way of accomplishing what you need. True, the time and money invested in getting the GC will be wasted but this is the best option given the circumstances you've described. It's better then using the GC as a tourist visa and having to constantly worry about revocation whenever you enter.

Thanks for this! It's a great idea, and one that had never occurred to me.

[SimranS 9]

If you want the 5-year-old son to come you should get him added to his father's petition. He does have derivative status and can accompany his father as long as he's under 21.

Marrying his partner would increase your stepson's chances of getting a tourist visa so he could get here most quickly, but if he doesn't want to marry then you should just continue with the GC application. If they go back to Russia with the GCs and abandon their residency, explaining that they just want visitor visas to see the parents, they will probably get 10-year multiple-entry visitor visas so they'll be all set to visit you whenever they want.

It is very ironic that someone has to get a GC and give it up just to prove that they don't want to live in the US. Just one of the many problems in the US immigration system. I agree with you though- even if all else fails (which it won't), at least he will have gotten to visit the USA once!

[IrinaNMike 0]

If you want the 5-year-old son to come you should get him added to his father's petition. He does have derivative status and can accompany his father as long as he's under 21.

Marrying his partner would increase your stepson's chances of getting a tourist visa so he could get here most quickly, but if he doesn't want to marry then you should just continue with the GC application. If they go back to Russia with the GCs and abandon their residency, explaining that they just want visitor visas to see the parents, they will probably get 10-year multiple-entry visitor visas so they'll be all set to visit you whenever they want.

It is very ironic that someone has to get a GC and give it up just to prove that they don't want to live in the US. Just one of the many problems in the US immigration system. I agree with you though- even if all else fails (which it won't), at least he will have gotten to visit the USA once!

Thanks to you we have a plan now. He will marry after he gets the Green Card but before he applies for a Tourist Visa. A multiple-entry visa would be perfect, but we won't pin our hopes on it.

[Boiler 45,932]

Would make more sense for them to marry before, so she gets a GC as well.

[SimranS 9]

Thanks to you we have a plan now. He will marry after he gets the Green Card but before he applies for a Tourist Visa. A multiple-entry visa would be perfect, but we won't pin our hopes on it.

Do you want his partner to be able to travel to the USA too after their marriage? If so they should marry and you should add her to the petition before he gets the green card. Your petition will be downgraded to an F3 (married children of US citizens) and may take a couple extra years, but at least they would all be able to come. If he waits until after getting the green card to marry and then tries to get visitor visas for all of them, things could get tricky. It may look to the consular officer that he is only abandoning his green card and applying for visitor visas so that his wife can come with them immediately and immigrate to the USA, instead of waiting the 2-4 years it would take her to get a green card applying as his spouse. If he simply married and petitioned for his wife after getting the GC that also wouldn't work because he would have to maintain his permanent resident status (by living in the US) for the 2-4 year period until she can get her GC. I hope that makes sense. On the other hand if you want only your stepson and his child to come, your plan looks perfect as is.