Trouble actually moving - Need advice on Point of Entry or Abandonment

[ElPerdido 3]

Hi everyone. I've just written to a lawyer to get some official advice on this, but I thought I'd check the wisdom of the forums as well.

I am a US Citizen. My wife is German. We live in Costa Rica. We recently went through the process of obtaining a CR-1 visa for her. The visa was granted on 12/03/16, and expires on May 3, 2017.

 

We have not yet traveled to the United States, and are in fact unsure of whether that's where we'd like to be. We want to make a trip to Puerto Rico to see if we might like it there.

 

My hope was that by making point of entry in Puerto Rico, if we decided we liked it we could start the Green Card production process. It might take us some time to actually get all of our things there, though.

 

What I'd like to know is the following: 1) Whether it will work to make PoE in Puerto Rico and return to Costa Rica, and if we desire, start the Green Card production process. If we decide to do this, we would end up making a few trips back and forth before we are fully moved in. 2) What are the consequences if we never make point of entry prior to May 3? I assume that means abandonment of the Visa, but would that render my wife unable to apply again in the future if we decide again to go to the United States? 3) Same question, but assuming we make PoE and get a green card. If it gets abandoned and we never actually move to the states under this visa, will that limit her ability to get a visa again in the future? 4) Is there a way to extend the CR1 visa so we can have more time to figure out what we're doing and save up the money for a move? 

Thanks for any help anyone can offer. 

[NikLR 13,227]

10 hours ago, ElPerdido said:

Hi everyone. I've just written to a lawyer to get some official advice on this, but I thought I'd check the wisdom of the forums as well.

I am a US Citizen. My wife is German. We live in Costa Rica. We recently went through the process of obtaining a CR-1 visa for her. The visa was granted on 12/03/16, and expires on May 3, 2017.

 

We have not yet traveled to the United States, and are in fact unsure of whether that's where we'd like to be. We want to make a trip to Puerto Rico to see if we might like it there.

 

My hope was that by making point of entry in Puerto Rico, if we decided we liked it we could start the Green Card production process. It might take us some time to actually get all of our things there, though.

 

What I'd like to know is the following: 1) Whether it will work to make PoE in Puerto Rico and return to Costa Rica, and if we desire, start the Green Card production process. If we decide to do this, we would end up making a few trips back and forth before we are fully moved in. 2) What are the consequences if we never make point of entry prior to May 3? I assume that means abandonment of the Visa, but would that render my wife unable to apply again in the future if we decide again to go to the United States? 3) Same question, but assuming we make PoE and get a green card. If it gets abandoned and we never actually move to the states under this visa, will that limit her ability to get a visa again in the future? 4) Is there a way to extend the CR1 visa so we can have more time to figure out what we're doing and save up the money for a move? 

Thanks for any help anyone can offer. 

1) Because the CR1 visa becomes a temporary green card valid for 1 year upon entry, your wife can certainly travel and make trips to move your stuff.  If you choose to stay you can pay the new immigrant fee and get the hard copy green card which will be valid for 2 years after entry (assuming you haven't been married for 2 years upon entry.)

2) the visa expires and she is no longer allowed to use it.  You guys can apply again in the future however expect questions regarding why you obtained a visa you did not use.  (I'll refrain from my personal opinion but others may not..)

3) No, again, expect questions later on though

4) You can attempt to call the embassy and extend the visa, however, visas are directly tied to the medical and are valid for 6 months past the medical date.  She would need a new medical for the visa to be valid for more time. (Again I'll refrain from personal opinion.)

Edited January 28, 2017 by NikLR