entering the USA with tourist and CR1 visa

[curitiba 0]

I a applying for a CR1 visa which should come around November 2012. My wife (American citizenship) and I were planning to move to the USA only in May 2013, however we would like to visit her family in Ohio for Christmas (2012) before.

I would like to know whether (having both Visas in my passport – CR1 and Tourist) I can visit the USA with a tourist visa (on Christmas) before moving definitively with an CR1 visa.

[Harsh_77 716]

No you will not have two visa in your passport, once when you get your CR1 visa your existing tourist visa would be cancelled.

[curitiba 0]

Thank you, good to know.

And could I go to the USA just for Christmas 2012 with the CR1 visa, then return to Brazil and finally move definitively on May 2013?

[JohnR! 5,495]

I a applying for a CR1 visa which should come around November 2012. My wife (American citizenship) and I were planning to move to the USA only in May 2013, however we would like to visit her family in Ohio for Christmas (2012) before.

I would like to know whether (having both Visas in my passport – CR1 and Tourist) I can visit the USA with a tourist visa (on Christmas) before moving definitively with an CR1 visa.

Your B1/B2 will be cancelled as your CR1 is approved. However, with the endorsed I-551 on your passport you will be able to travel and reenter the US without any problems.

Do you have a specific reason not to want to endorse your visa before May/13?

[Harsh_77 716]

yes you can do that, once you enter US on CR1 they will stamp your passport which makes the I-551 active, which means you have GC.

Eventually your GC would arrive in mail in 6-8 weeks and as a GC holder you are allowed to travel out of US.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Thank you, good to know.

And could I go to the USA just for Christmas 2012 with the CR1 visa, then return to Brazil and finally move definitively on May 2013?

Yes... With the 'new' I-551 visa, you can leave the US as soon as your visa is endorsed, which is done at the POE upon arrival. Your endorsed I-551 is valid for 1 year. You should receive your green card in 4-6 weeks after you arrive in the US.

[curitiba 0]

The reason I want to move after May is bc I am an professor and do not want to leave before finishing the school year (which will finish on May due a strike). Also moving later would give me a chance to schedue job interviews and maybe even move with an Job already waiting in the USA...

[curitiba 0]

So If I come back to Brazil in January my GC will come to the Adress I said I would be living in the USA (When I came for Christmas)... in my case my in-laws home?

[JohnR! 5,495]

So If I come back to Brazil in January my GC will come to the Adress I said I would be living in the USA (When I came for Christmas)... in my case my in-laws home?

Your GC will be sent to your in-laws'..

One other option is that if you get your CR interview scheduled for 2012, you can always call the consulate in Rio and reschedule it for a date in 2013 so that your visa will be issued after the planned Xmas trip. However, if your only concern is finishing up at school, there is no reason for you not to use the CR-1 to enter the US in December. On the upside, by the time you return in May, your green card should be waiting for you already.