Entering US after IR-1 Visa approval

[Gisselle Villegas 15]

Hello,

We are selling our things to make the move to the US by the end of November.  My husband who is the beneficiary already has a job waiting for him and plans to start Dec. 13th.  His passport IV Immigrant Visa stamp reads:  "Upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551 Evidencing permanent resident for one year".   According to what we have read in many sites, as soon as he enters the US the immigration officer will go into the system and this will activate the process to have his GC sent to him by mail and the officer will also endorse his temporary Green Card on the existing stamp.  We also submitted DS-260 to the National Visa Center prior to his interview where we chose to have his Social Security number created and sent to the address specified by mail.    To hurry the process of all this (especially the SS No. which he needs ASAP), he is going to travel to Florida this weekend for just one day to the next.  He will return to Costa Rica for 2 more weeks and then we will both move permanently to the US.   Has anyone done this?  Will it be ok for him to come back to his country the next day considering he already has his passport stampled with a temporary GC valid for one year?  Thanks in advance to anyone that may have answers.  

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Yes, it’s fine. 

[Gisselle Villegas 15]

Just now, SusieQQQ said:

Yes, it’s fine. 

What a relief!  Thank you!

 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

12 minutes ago, Gisselle Villegas said:

Hello,

We are selling our things to make the move to the US by the end of November.  My husband who is the beneficiary already has a job waiting for him and plans to start Dec. 13th.  His passport IV Immigrant Visa stamp reads:  "Upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551 Evidencing permanent resident for one year".   According to what we have read in many sites, as soon as he enters the US the immigration officer will go into the system and this will activate the process to have his GC sent to him by mail and the officer will also endorse his temporary Green Card on the existing stamp.  We also submitted DS-260 to the National Visa Center prior to his interview where we chose to have his Social Security number created and sent to the address specified by mail.    To hurry the process of all this (especially the SS No. which he needs ASAP), he is going to travel to Florida this weekend for just one day to the next.  He will return to Costa Rica for 2 more weeks and then we will both move permanently to the US.   Has anyone done this?  Will it be ok for him to come back to his country the next day considering he already has his passport stampled with a temporary GC valid for one year?  Thanks in advance to anyone that may have answers.  

Btw, he does not  require the SSN to start work. He is authorized to work immediately after crossing the border. He can later provide the employer the SSN when it arrives.

[Chancy 6,241]

7 minutes ago, Gisselle Villegas said:

He will return to Costa Rica for 2 more weeks and then we will both move permanently to the US.

 

Are you in the US?  From your post history, it seems that you're not.  Your husband should not travel to the US on his spouse visa without you preceding or accompanying him.  That's part of what you agreed to when you signed the I-864 -- that "you intend in good faith to reestablish your domicile in the United States no later than the date of the intending immigrant’s admission".

 

[Gisselle Villegas 15]

7 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

Btw, he does not  require the SSN to start work. He is authorized to work immediately after crossing the border. He can later provide the employer the SSN when it arrives.

Nice to know.  He can work but he won't get a paycheck until he can provide them with a SS #, correct?

 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

53 minutes ago, Gisselle Villegas said:

Nice to know.  He can work but he won't get a paycheck until he can provide them with a SS #, correct?

 

I am not sure about this. It is not legally required for the employer to have the employees SSN to pay them. The SSN is required for reporting wages to IRS though. So perhaps the employer will wait until they have the SSN to issue the paycheck.

 

This is not usually an issue, because the SSN arrives within two weeks of crossing the border, and this would be well before your first paycheck (considering employers pays salary every two weeks generally, which generally ends up being atleast 3 weeks from the date of joining.)

[Gisselle Villegas 15]

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

 

Are you in the US?  From your post history, it seems that you're not.  Your husband should not travel to the US on his spouse visa without you preceding or accompanying him.  That's part of what you agreed to when you signed the I-864 -- that "you intend in good faith to reestablish your domicile in the United States no later than the date of the intending immigrant’s admission".

 

No, my home has been in Costa Rica but I will be going back with home with my husband at the end of November.  Yes, I signed an agreement but this is mainly for the interview purpose so as not to think it was an arranged marriage and the USC will remain in the foreign country while the beneficiary moves to the US to start a new life.  Each IR-1 case is different and in our case, after 25 yrs married and with a daughter, as well as me being a housewife and my husband the provider, it's pretty obvious I have no intention of staying here nor is our marriage fraudulent.   If it were it would also be very easy for me to enter the US with him and then just take the next flight back to Costa Rica.

 

[Marieke H 2,498]

5 minutes ago, Gisselle Villegas said:

No, my home has been in Costa Rica but I will be going back with home with my husband at the end of November.  Yes, I signed an agreement but this is mainly for the interview purpose so as not to think it was an arranged marriage and the USC will remain in the foreign country while the beneficiary moves to the US to start a new life.  Each IR-1 case is different and in our case, after 25 yrs married and with a daughter, as well as me being a housewife and my husband the provider, it's pretty obvious I have no intention of staying here nor is our marriage fraudulent.   If it were it would also be very easy for me to enter the US with him and then just take the next flight back to Costa Rica.

 

What @Chancy is saying, is that your husband may have issues trying to enter the US on his IR-1 visa by himself while you are still in Costa Rica. It would be better if you could fly with him.

[Gisselle Villegas 15]

6 minutes ago, Marieke H said:

What @Chancy is saying, is that your husband may have issues trying to enter the US on his IR-1 visa by himself while you are still in Costa Rica. It would be better if you could fly with him.

The only thing I found relatable to this particular issue is this from Travel.state.gov  "When traveling, the primary (or principal) applicant must enter the United States before or at the same time as family members holding visas".   The applicant is our case is my husband.  I am the sponsor/petitioner.  If I were to fly with him, wouldn't I have to go through another door with other US Citizens while my husband has to go on his own through Immigration?  At least that is how its always been when we have traveled together in the past.  I pass through quickly while I have to sit and wait for him to pass through.

[arken 4,197]

Both of you can go through LPR line and be together all the time. No need to be separated.

[Gisselle Villegas 15]

On 10/28/2021 at 5:48 PM, Adventine said:

@HRQX is correct. I never requested for an SS number on my DS-260. I applied for the SS after I got my physical green card.

 

On 10/29/2021 at 9:22 AM, mam521 said:

As per the I-9 work instructions, you do not require a SSN to begin working.  The MRIV in the passport serves as the ID and status requirement as listed on the I-9 instructions.  The SSN is required to report earnings to the IRS.  A company can hire your husband and update his social once it's been received.  

 

The bigger challenge we personally ran into was the local SSA not believing that the MRIV was sufficient evidence to issue the SSN.  They were under the assumption that the physical greencard needed to be in hand.  Untrue according to the SSA and SSA website.  

 

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Are you in the US?  From your post history, it seems that you're not.  Your husband should not travel to the US on his spouse visa without you preceding or accompanying him.  That's part of what you agreed to when you signed the I-864 -- that "you intend in good faith to reestablish your domicile in the United States no later than the date of the intending immigrant’s admission".

 

I also forgot to mention that as me being unemployed and living abroad with my husband,  we have two co-sponsors living in the US and its precisely the mailing address location where we requested the SS and GC to be sent to.

[Ontarkie 14,221]

You will have to travel with him. He cannot enter the US before you. 

[Mjc2021 8]

Hello! I just entered the US moments ago for the first time with my temp green card (IR-1). I currently have a L1-A work visa and my temp visa has the same wording as your husband’s. 
 

When I just went through immigration processing they told me:

 

1. My husband must be either accompanying me into the US or already at our home in the US. He’s at our home in California. I was asked/told this by two immigration officers at the airport. 
 

2. They told me to avoid leaving the US until I have my actual green card. They said I can of course leave but it’s complicated, so I should wait until my green card comes back in the mail. 
 

I’m a Canadian Citizen and have been married for 6 years (we lived in Canada preciously). 
 

Since I have lawfully lived and worked in the US since December 2020 with an L1 visa, I already have a SSN, but I was able to start work and receive income while I waited for it upon my L1 entry since everything was very slow to process with COVID. 

[Gisselle Villegas 15]

23 minutes ago, Mjc2021 said:

Hello! I just entered the US moments ago for the first time with my temp green card (IR-1). I currently have a L1-A work visa and my temp visa has the same wording as your husband’s. 
 

When I just went through immigration processing they told me:

 

1. My husband must be either accompanying me into the US or already at our home in the US. He’s at our home in California. I was asked/told this by two immigration officers at the airport. 
 

2. They told me to avoid leaving the US until I have my actual green card. They said I can of course leave but it’s complicated, so I should wait until my green card comes back in the mail. 
 

I’m a Canadian Citizen and have been married for 6 years (we lived in Canada preciously). 
 

Since I have lawfully lived and worked in the US since December 2020 with an L1 visa, I already have a SSN, but I was able to start work and receive income while I waited for it upon my L1 entry since everything was very slow to process with COVID. 

Thank you for your information!  It's strange that the Officers would tell you not to travel until you received your physical card considering the temporary Green Card serves the exact same legal purpose as a physical Green Card.  What if you have to travel at least twice a month abroad for work purposes?  I have read on numerous legal pages that you can leave the US with the temporary Green Card stamp as long as the absense is not too extended (over 3 months or more).   I have also read that there seems many officials both from Immigration and Social Security don't quite understand the rules of how things are supposed to work.  We have done all the paperwork without an immigration lawyer but I think having one now would be a good idea so he/she can set things straight.  Another question:  Did you have to show them proof that your spouse was living in the US when they asked you?