Travel and Plane Tickets after Visa Approval

[empierce92 0]

Hello !

My husband just got his CR-1 visa approved and we will be flying to the U.S. around the middle of May. However, looking at the prices, a one-way ticket is significantly more expensive than round-trip. I would like to buy a round-trip and just not use the return flight. Is this something that would cause problems in immigration at the airport? Would this look suspicious even if we were honest and told them the other flight was purchased just to make it cheaper? I have also heard rumors from other people that the immigrant cannot leave the U.S. for a full year or two years after entering the U.S. Is this true?

(We will have our one year anniversary about a week before we travel, if that makes any difference on travel restrictions.)

Thanks in advance!

[Ortolan 381]

Buy the round-trip. But save the ticket and be sure you cancel the return leg of the flight with the airline after you get here. Save your ticket and your receipts...save that paperwork, because you might need it later. Get a confirmation from the airline that your return has been cancelled when you do cancel it.

It's crazy, I know, that the round-trip is cheaper. But it won't cause you any problems. If they ask you, just tell 'em the truth: round-trip is less expensive! Good luck.

[empierce92 0]

Is this something that you/your spouse did? We are actually finding return flights a month out the cheapest (so leaving in May, "returning" in June.) Hopefully that doesn't raise any red flags... Do you know anything about travel restrictions once immigrant enters U.S.?

[traveler100 20]

I'm not aware of any travel restrictions. All I know is that the time you spend outside of the US doesn't count towards the 3 year residency requirement to qualify for US citizenship. Also, if you stay outside of the US for more then 6 months, you have to explain why. And you must enter back into US within 1 year or the residency is taken away.

[traveler100 20]

btw, it's crazy how airlines do that, right? i ran into the same issue. well, similar. return ticket and one way tickets were almost the same price i think it was just a few bucks difference so I just booked the one way.

[Illiria 980]

I got a return flight, flew to the us in February and had the return booked for the furthest I could after that which turned out to be Christmas that year. I then used that to go visit family at Christmas and had booked a one way back after Christmas months in advance and used some airmiles so it was super cheap. No questions were asked about my flights at all.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to General Immigration-Related Discussion.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Hijack post along with reply removed; please start your own thread with your own questions.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Ryan H