IR5 Expiration & Travel Options

[Stressedd 0]

Hello,

I hope someone can help us over this unexpected speed bump in our journey. My wife is stressed and all I want to do is be her knight in shining armor.

Last night my mother and father-in-law received their IR5 visa from the courier, you would think that would be a cause for joy and it is, however, basically we only have one month if we want them to fly together. Father's visa expires Jul 6th and Mother's visa expires Aug 1st. They had their medical in March, father had to go back in April for results from a sputum test. They interviewed May 4th where they were approved but told to get another form for a name discrepancy.

I assumed (wrongly it appears) that the visas would expire in 6 months, so after they passed the interview I purchased tickets for my family and I to go there August and visit extended family and then escort them to the US on Aug 22nd, they have never traveled before.

I saw some advice to someone in a similar situation that mentions the possibility that they could fly to Guam and enter the US there which would include the temp GC stamp in their passport. My question is; would it be permissible for them to immediately fly back home and wait for us to come in August as originally planned so we could all travel to the US (Alaska) together?

Do we have any other options?

Thank you for any help or advice you can offer.

Rob & Maricel

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The maximum validity of an immigrant visa is 6 months, but it cannot extend beyond the validity of the required certifications of admissibility. For most people, the hangup is usually either the police certificate or the medical exam. Police certificates are usually valid for a year, and medical exams are usually valid for six months. There are some circumstances where a medical exam may only be valid for three months; for example, an alien with a class B TB infection. It depends on the consulate and which version of the CDC guidelines they are using (according to FAM guidance).

It's possible to get a new visa issued with a later expiration date if you can first find out which certification of admissibility was expiring, and then get that certification reissued. I don't know if you could get this finished, and get the new visas, in time for your August 22nd planned travel date. If it were me, I wouldn't risk it. I'd ensure that my in-laws entered the US before their already issued visas expired.

It should be possible to enter a US POE and get the I-551 stamp, and then travel abroad and return to the US later. This is, after all, one of the reasons they put an I-551 stamp into their passport. If they're going to go this route then they should probably do it sooner rather than later. This increases the chances that their admission will be processed into the system before they reenter the US. If it's not in the system yet then they can expect secondary inspection on their return to the US, with the CBP officer wanting detailed information about how they got that I-551 stamp. They should carry copies of the relevant I-130 approval notices just in case this happens. This is based on a Google search of people in similar circumstances.