Traveling outside the US without Green Card having arrived?

[VikingMamma 2]

Hi again everyone! As we get closer to getting finished with this process, I am finding I have more questions that I can't seem to find the answers to. I'd love it if someone could point me in the right direction on this. My mom has located her W-2s and we can now send in everything we need for both the AOS and IV packets. They should arrive sometime towards the 3rd week of February if we send them in tomorrow, maybe faster depending on what the expedite costs are. I know it really varies from case to case, but am I looking at a 5 month wait here? Our case will be sent to the Reykjavik Embassy once it is completed. My dad is getting remarried on May 10 on s Disney Cruise, and we'd love to be there if possible. Is that realistic at all?

Also, let's assume his visa is approved and we enter the US, Can he even go on the cruise since it docs in the Bahamas and they request that he have proof of US residency? Is there something we can use instead of a green card to prove that/minimize the hassle?

Thanks,

Alissa

[Ms Hogan 295]

Doesn't he have Icelandic documents/passport that he can travel with if your case isn't complete by then?

And if he has made his US entry he will then have a stamp and visa in his passport that he can travel with at that point until the actual green card arrives.

[VikingMamma 2]

Yep he does, but I thought he couldn't travel to the US while the case was pending at the NVC? The ship leaves from a US port.

Thanks so much for your reply! glad to know he can come if the visa comes through!

[Ms Hogan 295]

Do you need a visitor visa if you're from Iceland? I'm sorry that I don't know. I'm very fortunate to come from a country that does not require a visa to visit and we do so on a regular basis so sometimes I don't think about how it is for other countries. If he requires a visitor visa to come, then it may be more difficult for him to get it while an immigrant visa is pending. He will have to make extra efforts to prove that he isn't planning to immigrate at that time, and really is just visiting. However, if your case flies through NVC and your interview happens quickly then you may not have any obstacles at all by that point. Perhaps look into getting a visitor visa anyway so you know whether or not it is an option?

I'm sorry I'm not an expert but can only share my thoughts and advice based on what I've learned so far.

[VikingMamma 2]

Oh so he can come as a tourist if he's not planning to immigrate?!? Totally did not know that! Iceland is part of the VWP so he does not need a visitor visa to visit.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Before visa: He can travel on VWP. After visa: Entering the US with the IR/CR-1 visa triggers his Permanent Resident Status. He will immediately be a Permanent Resident, and at POE they will give him a stamp in his passport that will allow him to travel immediately. You don't have to wait for the physical GC.

[speedwell 224]

Before visa: He can travel on VWP. After visa: Entering the US with the IR/CR-1 visa triggers his Permanent Resident Status. He will immediately be a Permanent Resident, and at POE they will give him a stamp in his passport that will allow him to travel immediately. You don't have to wait for the physical GC.

It is occasionally possible to travel as a visitor before you make your official landfall as a GC holder. I know a couple people who have done it that way because of travel or family obligations that made it necessary to wait, even though they had to travel. I'm not clear on the way in which this is done (I think it is mostly up to the official at the port of entry) and I'm not sure it will work for you.

Edited February 10, 2013 by speedwell

[Ryan H 3,834]

Moving from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Working & Traveling During US Immigration forum; topic is about international travel post POE.

**Organizer hat off**

And if he has made his US entry he will then have a stamp and visa in his passport that he can travel with at that point until the actual green card arrives.

and at POE they will give him a stamp in his passport that will allow him to travel immediately.

A word about the stamp that is referenced in the two posts above. The only stamp that will be placed in the passport by a CBP officer is a standard entry stamp. The entry stamp endorses the visa which allows it to act as a temporary green card until the actual green card arrives. The stamp in of itself grants nothing.

[VikingMamma 2]

Okay cool, I think I understand a bit better. And sorry about posting in the wrong place! I'm still a n00b!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

A word about the stamp that is referenced in the two posts above. The only stamp that will be placed in the passport by a CBP officer is a standard entry stamp. The entry stamp endorses the visa which allows it to act as a temporary green card until the actual green card arrives. The stamp in of itself grants nothing.

That's not true, a I-551 stamp acts as a GC. For instance, people doing ROC who never get they extension letter can get a I-551 stamp in their passport which serves as a GC, even if they never had a immigrant visa in the first place.

[Ryan H 3,834]

That's not true, a I-551 stamp acts as a GC. For instance, people doing ROC who never get they extension letter can get a I-551 stamp in their passport which serves as a GC, even if they never had a immigrant visa in the first place.

My answer is 100% accurate as I was referencing what CPB does at the POE. Now I will give the long explanation.

At the bottom of an immigrant visa (CR-1 for example) is the following notation: "Upon Endorsement Serves As Temporary I-551 Valid for One Year."

When the passport with that visa is presented to a CBP officer, the officer will place A STANDARD ADMISSION STAMP on the page next to where the visa was affixed and write in the visa category, the A#, and the date the green card expires (2 years from the date of entry). This is the above referenced "endorsement" of the visa. CBP officers are no longer placing I-551 ADIT in stamps in passports that someone would get at a USCIS field office (using your example, this is what someone going through the ROC process who did not have an extension letter would receive).

As I said before, standard CBP admission stamps in of themselves grant nothing; they only function in combination with the visa itself.