Can I validate my IR1 in Hawaii first?

[jenster61 0]

I am married to a US citizen for over 15 years and residing permanently in Australia.

We have decided to relocate to live in the U.S. and I have recently received my final papers that require me to validate my IR1 visa in the U.S. by September 2013.

The problem is - we have not as yet sold our property here to enable us to relocate as yet;

We are planning to then travel to at least validate the visa and return to Australia until our property is sold in August & I am just wondering

if we can do this by visiting Hawaii as the Port of Entry - without having to travel to Chicago this time round.

As we will be relocating permanently as soon as our property is sold - travel to Hawaii would be a much easier option for us at this time.

Just wondering if there is anyone out there that has been in a similar situation and what did you do; or possibly anyone who can advise me on this?

Your comments would be much appreciated

[speedwell 224]

Port of Entry Hawaii is the US, therefore it's fine. And yes, you can turn right back around and go back to Australia to wrap up affairs; this is common and not unexpected.

[romnick 15]

You can enter to the US from any US port of entry and have your visa validated. You can come in and go back the next mins but be aware of the fact that there is a certain number of months that you can stay outside the United states as a Permanent resident, my advice is not to stay beyond 6 months and hopefully the property would have been sold within the 6 months. All the best.

[jenster61 0]

Thanks so much for your help - just one more question. Is there is any specific time that I must stay in Hawaii - or will it calculated from my stay over the calculated over the next twelve months?? cheers

[Hypnos 6,579]

It will be determined from PoE onwards, and in general you must spend more time inside the US than outside.

[speedwell 224]

It will be determined from PoE onwards, and in general you must spend more time inside the US than outside.

You're talking about entering under the Visa Waiver Program, Hypnos. Once the OP comes in under her IR-1, she is considered a permanent resident and is not subject to that rule. However she must not be away for more than 6 months, to avoid looking as though she is abandoning her green card.

[LucidSofia 59]

You're talking about entering under the Visa Waiver Program, Hypnos. Once the OP comes in under her IR-1, she is considered a permanent resident and is not subject to that rule. However she must not be away for more than 6 months, to avoid looking as though she is abandoning her green card.

I think that's what Hypnos was saying.. by not being away more than 6 months she is spending more time (of that year) inside the U.S than out of it.

[Hypnos 6,579]

You're talking about entering under the Visa Waiver Program, Hypnos. Once the OP comes in under her IR-1, she is considered a permanent resident and is not subject to that rule. However she must not be away for more than 6 months, to avoid looking as though she is abandoning her green card.

I'm not sure as to what rule you are referring, but in general terms green card holders should aim to spend more time in the US than outside to maintain their permanent residency.

That being said, international trips of up to six months are usually fine; for trips of between six and twelve months you may need to show proof to CBP that you have maintained your residency before they re-admit you (maintained a US bank account, paid federal income taxes, etc.); and trips of between twelve and twenty-four months require the alien to obtain a re-entry permit, and they may need to show the same proof of non-abandonment.

[jenster61 0]

Thanks for your comments everyone.

Once I validate my IR1 then whether it is in Hawaii or in Chicago, that in turn will activate the procedure to obtain my green card yes?. I am planning to get to Chicago within the next 6-8 months permanently, but as yet have not been able to sell up here. When I was applying for this immigration status, the whole time the embassy instructed us NOT to sell until I had received my approval.... Now we are waiting - just hope that it wont take too much longer..

[speedwell 224]

I think that's what Hypnos was saying.. by not being away more than 6 months she is spending more time (of that year) inside the U.S than out of it.

That's correct, and I seem to have read that backwards. VWP entrants are regarded with suspicion if they use the VWP to spend more time in the US than out. Hypnos is right and I apologize for the confusion.

[austex 42]

Hi Jenster61,

We are in the same boat. We haven't sold our house and we are having trouble selling our house. We have had one offer of $170K lower than what we were asking because the real estate agent put that we are moving overseas and urgently selling our house..... We are not that desperate to sell it that low....lol

Option 1:

We go to Hawaii and then have a small holiday and then come back to Brisbane and then continue to sell the house.

Or

Option 2:

What we could do is go over beginning of August and get an apartment and get our daughter enrolled in school for the beginning of their school year and then my husband will fly back to Australia and continue to sell the house.

We are finding this very stressful.

M.

[LBeachey 46]

My wife and I went to Hawaii for a week in October 2011 where she activated her CR-1. We then went back to China where I finished my work assignment, we came back to the US to live Christmas 2011. As long as your absences from the US are shorter than 6 months you are Ok, I also would try and avoid multiple short visits to the US with most of the time outside the US as you may get questioned if you are really residing in the US.

I actually FedEx my wife's green card to China once it showed up at our mailing address in the US though I am not sure if I was supposed to do that legally.

[jenster61 0]

Thanks everyone for your input - it is much appreciated.

We have now however now decided that we will just go to Chicago as it was just a hassle with trying to organize accommodation in Hawaii.

Apart from the fact that the family want to see us!! At the same time we can look around as to where exactly we want to settle as we have not definitely decided on a town yet.

The good news is....we have someone looking to buy on Wednesday, so fingers crossed!!!

Good luck M, it is not easy to complete the transition to move when things are not finalized back here! There were cheap flights to Hawaii available with Jetstar this week - worth checking out.