My wife will be coming here from Russia at the beginning of December on her CR-1 visa. Her passport with the visa in it was going to expire in December, so she got a new passport.

Will she have any problems coming here with her two passports, the current one and the "expired one with her visa in it? Or do we need to ask the embassy to put her visa in her current passport?

Thanks,

Bob

Its my understanding that the passport has to be valid with the visa in it. I seriously doubt ICE officers at the POE would accept it, and just to be on the safeside, I would return to the embassy with the new passport and the old passport and get them to re-issue the visa. I doubt you would have problems with doing that. DoS says that a passport needs to have at least 6 months of validity left for a visa, it sounds like they should hold some of the blame too for not paying attention to the expiration date.

Yes, she should return to the US Consulate with both passports and have them issue a visa in the new passport. It may take some time. You could inquire directly first because she may need an appointment to get inside the Consulate. Act now. Don't delay.

if one has a visitor visa in expired passport and presents expired and valid passport at POE, he/she is OK to go through. I would assume the same would work for an immigrant visa. But, as others said, check with the embassy.

She has the visa to travel now and if I were you I would have her travel on her VALID PASSPORT with VISA now. All you are doing by delaying travel is creating one more problem by showing up at customs with a valid visa in an expired passport and a valid passport with no visa. Your just asking for hassles from customs and immigrations officers at the airport.

If you want to wait, just ask the US Embassy to place the visa in the new passport.

Her passport was going to expire in December, so she got a new one. The visa is in the passport that was going to expire in December. When she comes here, her old passport will not have reached it's expriation date, but it is superceded by the new passport.

Same advice.

Get the visa stamped in the new passport and avoid potential problems.- there could be some and then it would be too late and complex.
Good luck, L.

I am waiting for the embassy in Moscow to reply to my question on this situation. Hopefully if she needs the visa in the new passport, she can send the two passports to them. She is a 4 hour plane ride from Moscow.

I have heard from the U.S. Consulate in Moscow concerning our situation. They said that my wife can enter the U.S. using both passports: her old passport containing the CR-1 visa, and her new passport.

Someone asked this question before....maybe you. To be on the safe side, I would have the Embassy re-issue the visa in the current passport. Call or better yet, email the NVC and ask them the same question.

That way if the customs and immigration officials at Port of Entry don't let your wife in, your wife can show the NVC said it was ok to come to the US with a current passport and no visa in it (with old passport and US visa)

See my post directly above yours.