Visiting U.S. Before green card is approved

[coip 1]

We applied for my wife's (Japanese, in Japan) i-130 back in November and hope she'll get final approval around April. I'll be living in the continental U.S. at that time. Unrelated to her aspirations to immigrate to the U.S., before she makes the big move, she'd like to travel with a family member from Japan to Hawaii. She asked me three questions:

1. Can she go to Hawaii as a tourist (Japanese citizens don't need a tourist visa to the U.S.; they can get stamped upon arrival) while her application is still being processed?

2. Say she books the trip and before the departure date, she gets her i-130 approved. Can her "first stop" be that trip to Hawaii (even though I won't be living there), and the immigration officer in Hawaii will approve her green card? And then, if she flies back to Japan, preps everything and then a week later finally makes the big move to the continental U.S., would that be all right?

3. Or, is this all too risky and should she just go to a non-U.S. state or territory instead?

[Boiler 45,549]

Yes

Yes

No

[coip 1]

Thanks for the reply. That's good. I let her know that, but she is still a little worried and asked if there was any documentation from the U.S. government that she can look at to verify that. Is there any?

[The Mean Lady 604]

She should bring along a copy of her NOA1 as well as ties to her country showing that she intends to return.

[Boiler 45,549]

Thanks for the reply. That's good. I let her know that, but she is still a little worried and asked if there was any documentation from the U.S. government that she can look at to verify that. Is there any?

www.uscis.gov

Her Consulate web site.