CR-1 Activation and POE Q's

[dapperdan 0]

Hello all,

As the topic states, I have a few questions regarding the activation of a CR-1 visa.

First, the background~

I am currently in South Korea with my wife (Korean citizen). She has already received her CR-1, which must be used by mid-March (the six month date from her medical and chest x-ray). Our issue is that we need to sell a piece of real estate before we make the move back to the US permanently, and we don't know if everything will be settled by March. As far as I understand things, we basically have two options~get a new x-ray and extend the CR-1, or make a quick trip to the US to activate the visa.

Question Number 1: Has anyone had any experience with getting a new x-ray and extending the visa? I actually thought this was impossible, but at the interview at the embassy (we did DCF in Seoul) the interviewer mentioned that this was possible. My wife called the embassy to ask, but couldn't really understand the answer (conversation in Korean, but my wife said the embassy employee was difficult to understand, so she didn't really get any info). I called, and asked in English, but the person I spoke to didn't sound like a native English speaker, so again we didn't really understand what they were trying to tell us. Finally, I emailed the embassy, and the info they sent back was more applicable to renewing an expired visa, not extending a valid one.

Question Number 2: Would it be possible for us to just take a quick trip to Guam and get the visa activated, then travel to the US when we settle all our affairs here in Korea (within a reasonable time, of course)? My biggest worry with this option is that it may give the appearance that she is not serious about maintaining a US residence (i.e. the immigration officer, either in Guam or the mainland, may think that she plans to only make occasional trips to the US to keep an active green card, but not reside there permanently).

Sorry, this came out longer than I thought, but anyone with experience in either of these situations?

Thanks so much!

[TimeTravel 78]

Hello all,

As the topic states, I have a few questions regarding the activation of a CR-1 visa.

First, the background~

I am currently in South Korea with my wife (Korean citizen). She has already received her CR-1, which must be used by mid-March (the six month date from her medical and chest x-ray). Our issue is that we need to sell a piece of real estate before we make the move back to the US permanently, and we don't know if everything will be settled by March. As far as I understand things, we basically have two options~get a new x-ray and extend the CR-1, or make a quick trip to the US to activate the visa.

Question Number 1: Has anyone had any experience with getting a new x-ray and extending the visa? I actually thought this was impossible, but at the interview at the embassy (we did DCF in Seoul) the interviewer mentioned that this was possible. My wife called the embassy to ask, but couldn't really understand the answer (conversation in Korean, but my wife said the embassy employee was difficult to understand, so she didn't really get any info). I called, and asked in English, but the person I spoke to didn't sound like a native English speaker, so again we didn't really understand what they were trying to tell us. Finally, I emailed the embassy, and the info they sent back was more applicable to renewing an expired visa, not extending a valid one.

Question Number 2: Would it be possible for us to just take a quick trip to Guam and get the visa activated, then travel to the US when we settle all our affairs here in Korea (within a reasonable time, of course)? My biggest worry with this option is that it may give the appearance that she is not serious about maintaining a US residence (i.e. the immigration officer, either in Guam or the mainland, may think that she plans to only make occasional trips to the US to keep an active green card, but not reside there permanently).

Sorry, this came out longer than I thought, but anyone with experience in either of these situations?

Thanks so much!

Option 2 would be better if you guys have to return to South Korea after activating CR-1. But keep the visit less than 6 months. You guys would be questioned about this trip, and just say As It Is reason. It should be fine then.

[Ryan H 3,812]

She has already received her CR-1, which must be used by mid-March (the six month date from her medical and chest x-ray).

Firstly, the visa will have an expiration date printed on it and it must be used before that date.

Secondly, when the visa is first used, CBP will place a standard entry stamp on the page next to the visa itself and write in applicable information on the fields (i.e. the 'endorsement' that the bottom notation on the visa refers to). This will be your spouse's temporary green card until she receives her actual one. This will permit re-entry to the US.

Thirdly, in general, situations do come up that necessitate travel back to one own country (e.g. settle final affairs). Therefore, I suggest that the visa be used before it expires, then travel back to take care of loose ends.