At last, I have my interview date (January 4th) in London!

We have been thinking about doing some travelling before we settle in the US (you don't get many holidays in US...!).

We want to go to Australia and thought that if we are going all that way, maybe we should do it on a round the world ticket. My question is, if we are on a round the world ticket, and I had my nice new US visa (CR1/IR1), can I fly into the US for the first time into say LA and then fly back to the UK, completing a round the world trip and then get the rest of our stuff together and fly a single ticket into Atlanta to settle down?

If this is not possible, will probably just get return flight to australia!

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

Andrew

I would think you would need the physical green card delivered before going on the trip (which sounds fantastic by the way ) but am not quite sure.

You can fly in and activate your visa. Quite a few people have flown over to use it when they still haven't got everything ready to leave the UK but the visa expiry date is almost up, and then returned to the UK. Once the visa in your passport and stamped it becomes a temporary I-551 (temporary green card) valid for 12 months.

If asked when you come back permanently, but it couldn't be too long after you used your visa certainly 6 months or more outside the US would be pushing it, just explain you returned to the UK to finalise the winding up of your UK affairs.

The point to remember is you are taking up permanent residence status. If you use your visa and then leave the US for a length of time generally held to be between 6 and 12 months when you come back the immigration officer might well conclude you have given up your permanent residence and refuse you entry. The time frame is a bit hit and miss as it is partly down to the discretion of the immigration officer at the port of entry.

Thanks for your answer! We are planning on leaving the UK end of Jan, and being away for around 1 - 1 1/2 months. So will prob be aiming to be in the US and settling in March. So I guess that would work. If anyone else has any more thoughts, please post!

Another thought; I take it that it would not be a problem me entering the USA from Australia rather than the UK?

You can enter from where ever you wish. A month to a month and a half before you came back to the US after using your visa should not be any problem.

It would be a good idea if you could arrange an address in the US for you Green Card and Social Security Card to be sent to as they are normally sent out around 4 weeks after you enter on the visa.

Excellent We have my parents in law's address on all the forms and they are co-sponsoring me, so should be ok!

Thanks! Any other thoughts, please post or pm me!

My only other thought is you are going to be travelling quite a lot carrying the MBE (mystery brown envelope) the Embassy give you, and which you have to give to the immigration officer at the POE unopened. It contains all the paperwork concerning your case, all the original forms etc and if it gets lost or opened you would have to go back to the Embassy to get it re-sealed. If lost you would have to start the process all over again.

Certainly something to consider when making your plans.

Good luck on the 4th most interviews are very straightforward and apart from the waiting time quite quick.

Thanks! I also had that thought; to avoid that problem was to fly westwards for my first leg, London to LA. Then the only thing I will have to carry around will be the X-ray! Or I could fed-ex the x-ray to parents in law!

Trip is hopefully going to be booked this weekend. London -> LA-Cook Islands -> Aukland ->Perth -> Singapore ->Tokyo-> London!!!

Andrew

I have now reserved the trip! The next complicating factor is travel insurance!

When I enter the US through Orlando and have my passport stamped with a temporary green card, am I immediately classed as a US resident, or could I still argue that I am a UK resident until after my round the world trip when I take my one way ticket and settle there?

Secondly, my wifes UK visa runs out at the end of Jan, just after we leave the UK, does she return to having US residency immediately, or again only once we settle back down? With the round the world trip, she will re-enter the UK on a tourist visa, before we make the single trip to the states to settle.

The reason I ask this question is that if you buy UK travel insurance, it states that you have to be a UK resident and vice-versa for US travel insurance! I'm not sure if legally our status changes whilst we are away and will invalidate the policy? Ideally, I would rather have a joint insurance policy which would mean that we are both resident in the same country.

Your thoughts again are much appreciated!

Andrew

I think you will be ok with UK travel insurance. You are leaving from the UK and returning to the UK and have a UK address as you residence so as that should be ok. Might well be worthwhile asking the insurance company when you buy the insurance.

Now you stumbling block is your wife's visa. I wasn't an immigration officer but I worked alongside immigration officers in the immigration halls at Heathrow for a good few years, so got to learn about how they operate. You wife isn't coming back into the UK as a tourist, she is coming back into live, all be it for a short while. You are going to be relying on the interpretation of the immigration officer on how they decide on the day to apply the rules. Sympathetically or not. Knowing immigration officers as well as I do I wouldn't want to bet on that one.

Thanks for the information about my situation.

As for my wife's situation, we will probably have to buy her US travel insurance. I forgot to mention in my question that my wife is still on a student visa and has not changed to a spouse visa. I asked the IND dept of the home office if she can leave the UK, let her student visa lapse and enter the UK as a tourist. There response is below:

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your enquiry.

The Home Office can confirm that non-Visa Nationals can be granted up to 6 months at port as a visitor as long as you can meet the requirements of the immigration officers at port:

you intend to leave the UK at the end of your stay;

you have sufficient funds to maintain and accommodate yourself;

you are giving a true account of why you want to enter the UK.

you do not intend to engage in any work paid or unpaid.

The maximum amount of time allowed is 6 months in any one visit.

So I think as long as we arrive in the UK with an onward flight booked a week later we should be ok. I will have a copy of their e-mail to show as well!

Any other thoughts are appreciated.

Andrew

Their e-mail means diddly squat not even an entry visa in a passport is binding on an immigration officer at the port of entry.

The give a true account of why you want to enter the UK is the problem.

If I have understood correctly a true account is. We live in the UK but are leaving to live permanently in the USA in about a weeks time. We are returning to our UK address after a holiday to wind up our affairs and arrange the move.

You are now left relying on the immigration officer deciding your wife is a returning resident or she is a visitor. Good luck with that, it is going to come down to the immigration officer on the day, and don't expect them to use common sense or be impartial. They only have to think she is a returning resident without a visa, there is no need for them to be able to prove anything.

You could try saying she has already moved back to the USA and she is on a visit but an examination of the entry stamps in her passport from your trip would throw that in doubt.

What airport and terminal are you planning on returning to the UK via. I'll try and get the Chief Immigration Officers telephone number for that office and you can call them and ask how they would view the matter. May take me a few days to get it becasue I'll have to e-mail my old office in the UK and ask.

Cheers for the reply. You have got it mostly correct - we won't be returning to our home address as we will have moved out. We will be staying with my parents. To be honest, we hopefully won't have too many things to tie up, but are mainly wishing to see them and my sister before moving! If my wife had a job acceptance, I am guessing that would help and evidence that I have quit my job and have a green card.

Anyway, like you say it is dependent on the immigration officer. If our trip works out, we will be flying into Heathrow from Tokyo on a Virgin flight into terminal 3. If you are able to find a number I would much appreciate it.

Am starting to wonder if it is all getting too complicated!

Andrew

Heathrow they are still in my address book, T3 immigration is 020 8745 6900 ask to speak to the duty C.I.O.

Thanks for the number! I tried to get through and have been on hold for a total of over 2 hours today! I got through on one occassion and they cut me off. Will try again tomorrow morning first thing!

Thanks again,

Andrew

Can be a bit hit and miss, depends if it is busy and they are all on the desks and no-one left in the office. That number should be ok as long as the terminal is open say from about 5am to 10pm.

Just wanted to say thanks Lansbury. I actually never managed to get through, so we decided to change our plans and go to the states and then do a trip around australia for a month. We will return to the UK as visitors later in the year to visit my parents. Sounds a safer option!

Andrew

That does sound the safer option.