Tourist Visa Renewal During IR Visa Process

[millefleur 5,047]

3 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

The final straw was shipping our household goods.  In Oct. 2020 I was given a quote of 8-10,000 USD to ship a 20 foot container from Subic Bay to Houston.  The same guy got back to me with an update this week.  At least 25k now!  He said the 20 foot container ocean cost was $3200 in 2019 and is now $19,000 plus!

That's absolutely insane. I don't blame you for waiting it out, things are nuts here right now. A lot of stores have even stopped asking me "Did you find everything OK?" at checkout because they know the shelves are short what they should be. I asked a cashier about this today and she said that she just hopes people won't yell at her for not having their favorite items in stock. I really hope we can get back to "normal" eventually, but when that is remains to be seen. 😕

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

3 minutes ago, millefleur said:

That's absolutely insane. I don't blame you for waiting it out, things are nuts here right now. A lot of stores have even stopped asking me "Did you find everything OK?" at checkout because they know the shelves are short what they should be. I asked a cashier about this today and she said that she just hopes people won't yell at her for not having their favorite items in stock. I really hope we can get back to "normal" eventually, but when that is remains to be seen. 😕

Our situation is much different than most on VJ who are moving / immigrating to the U.S.  We can wait, reluctantly, until things get better.

[Adventine 3,201]

@seekingthetruth wow, those are some eye-popping shipping prices!

 

But all things considered, you and your family are still in a great position. Not everyone has the luxury of having your choices. Hopefully things work out despite the delayed timeline.

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

11 minutes ago, millefleur said:

That's absolutely insane. I don't blame you for waiting it out, things are nuts here right now. A lot of stores have even stopped asking me "Did you find everything OK?" at checkout because they know the shelves are short what they should be. I asked a cashier about this today and she said that she just hopes people won't yell at her for not having their favorite items in stock. I really hope we can get back to "normal" eventually, but when that is remains to be seen. 😕

If you are interested, here is a article that Flicks pointed out to me.  Look at the chart!

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/08/business/shipping-containers/index.html

 

Here is an interactive graph showing the used car pricing bubble.

 

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/price-trends/

 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

@SusieQQQ @Adventine @top_secret

 

Let me know if you think I should start a new topic in another area.  I'm not sure where, so I will continue here.  The background is in this topic.

 

So, we will not move our household in June 2022 due to the high costs, and we will delay a year.  Here is my proposed backup plan.  Shoot it full of holes if needed. 🙂

 

1.  Holding final submissions to NVC until early next year.  Still trying to have immigrant visas for wife and stepdaughter in hand by June 2022.  Hopefully medicals and interviews in March / April 2022.

 

2.  Will submit for tourist visa renewal for my wife this next week.  This is really just for a backup and might not be used.  As noted, my step daughter has her b1/b2.

 

3.  Assuming that the immigrant visas are issued in the planned timeframe, we will take a trip to the U.S. in the June-August 2022 timeframe.  My wife and step daughter will enter the U.S. and become LPRs.  However, after the trip, we will return to the Philippines.  The purpose of the trip will be tourist / family visiting / scouting.

 

4.  Then our final move will be around June 2023 after the kids finish the school year.  This will be much easier because we will have all the visa work done and out of the way.

 

Quoting Susie from earlier in this topic:

You can certainly enter using the immigrant visas, they become LPRs immediately, as long as you return again within a year after leaving (ideally within 6 months so as not to disrupt the naturalization process) it’s no problem. This is in fact exactly what we did on our IVs.

 

This is the area I need to get educated on.  After they enter and become LPR, what are all the requirements and milestones to be met in that first year?  Is there an area of VJ where I might find some experiences?  What is the significance of the 6 months and the naturalization period?  It is unlikely that they would return within 6 months.  More likely, 10-11 months.  E.G., we make the first trip in July-August 2022, and then move in June 2023.

 

Previously, I was not concerned about what happened after they arrived as there was no plan to leave anytime soon after.  I figured we would tackle all that after arrival. So, I am clueless about that part of the immigration process.

 

Inputs very much appreciated!

[Adventine 3,201]

You've got a lot of moving parts to think about!

 

Here are some of my thoughts:

 

Tourist visas:

• Definitely a good idea to renew your wife's tourist visa. Hopefully the dropbox renewal goes smoothly.
• It's an even better idea for your family to visit the US first, before their immigrant visas are granted.
• If their PH passports only have a couple of years validity left, renew them while you're still in the Philippines. Cheaper and more convenient than renewing them at one of the PH consulates in the States.

 

Important milestones after they travel to the US using their immigrant visas (this was my own to-do list after I got my green card):

• Social Security:
  • Wait for their social security cards to arrive in the mail. 
  • There will be an option on the DS-260 for the social security card to be mailed to your US address, but people report the delivery time varies wildly. See this thread.
  • Set up their MySocialSecurity online accounts. 
• Finances:
  • Credit scores: open credit cards with their SSNs so that they start building US credit history.
  • Bank accounts: same, best to set this up as soon as they can.
  • Investments: if this is important to you, set up their US-domiciled investment accounts.
    • This will not be as easy and straightforward for GC holders as it is for US citizens. For example, my US citizen husband easily set up his account on Vanguard.com, but I couldn't complete my online account set up even though I have my physical green card and SS card. I had to speak with a live agent and mail documents to Vanguard just to open an investment account. I think this is part of their Know Your Customer process. Other financial institutions will likely have similar controls in place.
• Driver's license (REAL ID compliant)
  • Best to get this done before the May 2023 deadline for REAL ID.

 

Miscellaneous things to consider:

• I'm not sure how old your kids are, and what impact the new dates would have on their schooling. This goes for your PH citizen stepdaughter and US citizen kids.
• The wild card: what if 2023 rolls around and the cost of shipping your household goods is still extremely high? Would you be willing to delay the move another year, or would you consider paring down to the bare minimum and just buying everything again in the US?

Edited October 29, 2021 by Adventine

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

59 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

This is the area I need to get educated on.  After they enter and become LPR, what are all the requirements and milestones to be met in that first year?  Is there an area of VJ where I might find some experiences?  What is the significance of the 6 months and the naturalization period?  It is unlikely that they would return within 6 months.  More likely, 10-11 months.  E.G., we make the first trip in July-August 2022, and then move in June 2023.

One year is the maximum you can be out the country without being deemed to have abandoned your green card 

see https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-we-grant-your-green-card/international-travel-as-a-permanent-resident , particularly the section titled “Does travel outside the United States affect my permanent resident status?”

 

The residence and presence requirements to be able to naturalize differ from what is just required to maintain a green card. The 6 months issue revolves around that of “continuous residence”. If they are out for longer than 6 months, no problem (as long as it is less than a year), it just means that they can only naturalize a bit later than if they had not broken the 6 month period. https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-for-naturalization

 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Fwiw, as an aside, I have a family member in an import intensive business. There is a particular low-ish value item they usually import for Christmas sales. Usually the shipping cost works out to around 5c per item. This year it is around a dollar. And they don’t even know if it’s going to arrive in time. I don’t watch shipping as closely as I used to when I was working but I saw a few crunches during that time, and I don’t ever remember one this bad.
 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

24 minutes ago, Adventine said:

You've got a lot of moving parts to think about!

Yes, thank you for the detailed response!  More below.

 

Here are some of my thoughts:

 

Tourist visas:

• Definitely a good idea to renew your wife's tourist visa. Hopefully the dropbox renewal goes smoothly.
• It's an even better idea for your family to visit the US first, before their immigrant visas are granted.
• If their PH passports only have a couple of years validity left, renew them while you're still in the Philippines. Cheaper and more convenient than renewing them at one of the PH consulates in the States.
• We are good on the passports.  We just renewed my 5 year old dual citizen's PH passport and next we will renew her U.S. passport.

 

Important milestones after they travel to the US using their immigrant visas (this was my own to-do list after I got my green card):

• Social Security:
  • Wait for their social security cards to arrive in the mail. 
  • There will be an option on the DS-260 for the social security card to be mailed to your US address, but people report the delivery time varies wildly. See this thread.
  • Set up their MySocialSecurity online accounts. 
  • I'm not sure if we can wait for them on this first trip.  I will use my friend's address in Ohio and he can send them DHL to wherever we are in the U.S. or the Philippines.  If the wait times improve by next year, maybe we will get them in the U.S.
• Finances:
  • Credit scores: open credit cards with their SSNs so that they start building US credit history.
  • Maybe, if feasible.
  • Bank accounts: same, best to set this up as soon as they can.
  • Maybe, if feasible.  I will open accounts for my two USC kids because they are getting social security direct deposited here in a Philippine bank.  I need the accounts opened so I can transfer the direct deposit.
  • Investments: if this is important to you, set up their US-domiciled investment accounts.
    • This will not be as easy and straightforward for GC holders as it is for US citizens. For example, my US citizen husband easily set up his account on Vanguard.com, but I couldn't complete my online account set up even though I have my physical green card and SS card. I had to speak with a live agent and mail documents to Vanguard just to open an investment account. I think this is part of their Know Your Customer process. Other financial institutions will likely have similar controls in place.
    • Maybe, if feasible.
• Driver's license (REAL ID compliant)
  • Best to get this done before the May 2023 deadline for REAL ID.
  • This would be nice but I don't know if we could do this on the first trip.  Need Texas address, etc.  I will looking into it.

 

Miscellaneous things to consider:

• I'm not sure how old your kids are, and what impact the new dates would have on their schooling. This goes for your PH citizen stepdaughter and US citizen kids.
• Yes, we are planning everything around school years, but this delay has a negative impact on my step daughter.  We planned on her getting started at a San Antonio community college in 2022.  I'm have more research to do to see if there is any way she could get started remotely, even if I have to pay foreign student rates.  
• The wild card: what if 2023 rolls around and the cost of shipping your household goods is still extremely high? Would you be willing to delay the move another year, or would you consider paring down to the bare minimum and just buying everything again in the US?
• Yes, we have discussed it and a one year delay is all we can accept.  One way or another, we have to move in summer 2023.  Praying that things normalize.  When I move to PH in 2012, I shipped about 35 BB boxes over.  A lot of it is sentimental value stuff I collected over the years and now I will send most of it back!  The objective with a container is because we do have some larger household furniture and decor that we would like to keep, but they are not critical.

 

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

43 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

One year is the maximum you can be out the country without being deemed to have abandoned your green card 

see https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-we-grant-your-green-card/international-travel-as-a-permanent-resident , particularly the section titled “Does travel outside the United States affect my permanent resident status?”

 

The residence and presence requirements to be able to naturalize differ from what is just required to maintain a green card. The 6 months issue revolves around that of “continuous residence”. If they are out for longer than 6 months, no problem (as long as it is less than a year), it just means that they can only naturalize a bit later than if they had not broken the 6 month period. https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-for-naturalization

 

 

Thanks so much!  We should be fine with the one year.  A small delay in applying for citizenship should not be a big problem.

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

39 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Fwiw, as an aside, I have a family member in an import intensive business. There is a particular low-ish value item they usually import for Christmas sales. Usually the shipping cost works out to around 5c per item. This year it is around a dollar. And they don’t even know if it’s going to arrive in time. I don’t watch shipping as closely as I used to when I was working but I saw a few crunches during that time, and I don’t ever remember one this bad.
 

 

Yes, this whole mess is very inflationary and hard on small businesses as well as large.

 

I was in the air express business for many years, with a little bit of ocean freight.  If the ocean freight rates are not normalized by 2023, I might reach out to some old contacts to see if I can get some cheap air freight for some boxes.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Btw, re the school year. I’m not overly familiar with community colleges and definitely not with ones in texas, but I think they are generally more flexible than 4 year colleges about which semester you start in; though I am sure there will still be some courses that require sequencing, starting in spring rather than fall semester may not be as problematic as you might perceive it to be, but if fall is just going to be dead time then maybe online is an option. That said (just thinking out loud here) if the international student fee is going to be pretty pricey, like say around the $10k difference you’re hoping to save on the shipping cost (and if this is the college https://www.alamo.edu/sac/about-sac/college-offices/international-students/tuition-fees/ you’re thinking of, then yes it is that much…) ….doesn’t it just make sense to do the move?

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

35 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Btw, re the school year. I’m not overly familiar with community colleges and definitely not with ones in texas, but I think they are generally more flexible than 4 year colleges about which semester you start in; though I am sure there will still be some courses that require sequencing, starting in spring rather than fall semester may not be as problematic as you might perceive it to be, but if fall is just going to be dead time then maybe online is an option. That said (just thinking out loud here) if the international student fee is going to be pretty pricey, like say around the $10k difference you’re hoping to save on the shipping cost (and if this is the college https://www.alamo.edu/sac/about-sac/college-offices/international-students/tuition-fees/ you’re thinking of, then yes it is that much…) ….doesn’t it just make sense to do the move?

Yes, I had looked at the Alamo site a while back and knew it was expensive.  However, perhaps there is a creative way to establish her / us as a resident(s) if we visit in summer of 22 and she is a LPR???

 

Actually, I'm estimating my move costs to be 40k higher right now than I planned.  20k extra for household goods moving and 10k per vehicle I need to buy on arrival, times two vehicles.  That is without considering housing.

[millefleur 5,047]

2 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Yes, I had looked at the Alamo site a while back and knew it was expensive.  However, perhaps there is a creative way to establish her / us as a resident(s) if we visit in summer of 22 and she is a LPR???

Just be aware that some colleges, even some community colleges, can be really picky about starting out as out-of-state and then later switching to the cheaper in-state rate. Check the residency and in-state domicile requirements for that college/Texas in general. Some colleges require an entire year's residency before you can get discounted in-state tuition, plus a bunch of proof to back it up. Might be a good idea to talk with the college directly so you understand the rules and limitations around it.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

51 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

However, perhaps there is a creative way to establish her / us as a resident(s) if we visit in summer of 22 and she is a LPR???

Highly unlikely. In-state tuition requires residence in the state, not just having lpr status. As noted above it may even be hard to get the in state rate if no one in the family has actually been living in Texas before starts school.