Establishing residency on temp I551

[talisker 0]

Hi

My American wife has dual nationality and we have been married for five years, resident in the UK for all of that time. I just got my IR1 application approved in February.

I've got my temp i551 visa in my passport, all approved. We are heading to the US in a couple of weeks to activate the visa. Our house in the UK has only just gone on the market (obviously we didn't want to sell it until we got approval) and is very unlikely to have been sold before we go. We won't have funds to purchase a place in the States until it is sold. What we would like to do is:

1) Go to the US in April, stay a couple of weeks, view properties etc

2) Return here (UK) and oversee the sale of the house, finish up work obligations etc

3) Return to the US in a few months with capital from the house sale and buy a place there

I know that you can leave and re-enter on I551, but the thing I am worrying about is entering for the first time with the intention of leaving again only two weeks later.

On the other hand, seeing as you would be crazy to sell the house before having the I551 granted, I'm not sure how we could have done things differently. I imagine they see this situation fairly frequently, and hope that being upfront and having documentation to prove that we are serious ie actually selling the house etc will be sufficient.

Does anybody have any experience of similar?

Cheers

[Shauneg 762]

Hi

My American wife has dual nationality and we have been married for five years, resident in the UK for all of that time. I just got my IR1 application approved in February.

I've got my temp i551 visa in my passport, all approved. We are heading to the US in a couple of weeks to activate the visa. Our house in the UK has only just gone on the market (obviously we didn't want to sell it until we got approval) and is very unlikely to have been sold before we go. We won't have funds to purchase a place in the States until it is sold. What we would like to do is:

1) Go to the US in April, stay a couple of weeks, view properties etc

2) Return here (UK) and oversee the sale of the house, finish up work obligations etc

3) Return to the US in a few months with capital from the house sale and buy a place there

I know that you can leave and re-enter on I551, but the thing I am worrying about is entering for the first time with the intention of leaving again only two weeks later.

On the other hand, seeing as you would be crazy to sell the house before having the I551 granted, I'm not sure how we could have done things differently. I imagine they see this situation fairly frequently, and hope that being upfront and having documentation to prove that we are serious ie actually selling the house etc will be sufficient.

Does anybody have any experience of similar?

Cheers

You could turn around and leave 10 minutes after landing. Doesn't matter.

[newacct 688]

A note on terminology: I-551 = proof of permanent residency = green card. You are not a permanent resident right now, and you don't have an I-551. What you have is an immigrant visa. When you enter the US with the immigrant visa, you immediately become a permanent resident, and the immigrant visa turns into an I-551 as proof of permanent residency.

[Ryan H 3,834]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Working & Traveling During US Immigration forum.

[talisker 0]

A note on terminology: I-551 = proof of permanent residency = green card. You are not a permanent resident right now, and you don't have an I-551. What you have is an immigrant visa. When you enter the US with the immigrant visa, you immediately become a permanent resident, and the immigrant visa turns into an I-551 as proof of permanent residency.

Thanks for the pointer.