Conditionals on Green Card for Marriage under 2 years

[teama&a 3]

Hello all,

I have read that the day you enter the US is the day that your green card is issued. That being said, I have also read that there is a 6 month expiration once the visa is issued, and the applicant must enter the US before that time is up. Our 2 year marriage anniversary will be in August, I am wondering if my visa is issued before hand (interview set and complete by then) can I postpone entering the US until our 2 year marriage is up? Would that make my green card non-conditional, saving us the headache of more paperwork and fees down the road to remove the conditions? Or is the issue date based on when the visa is issued, not when the applicant enters the US?

Thanks for your advice in advance

[Lainie B 465]

Yes, you can delay your entry into the US to ensure that you receive a 10-year green card, not a 2-year green card, and thus avoiding the removal of conditions process.

[teama&a 3]

Perfect, just wanted to make sure. Thank you

[EM_Vandaveer 2,438]

Make sure to tell the CBP officer to stamp your visa IR-1 instead of CR-1.

[mallafri76 1,012]

Just to clarify, your visa is valid for six months from the date of your medical, NOT your interview. And this is subject to your police cert also being valid for that time. So as long as you had/have your medical on or after February 25th and your police cert doesn't expire before August 25th, sure you can prolong your move to the US by your marriage date to get a permanent green card from the get go. It does save a lot of time, hassle and money.

When you POE, be sure to have your marriage cert handy and point out to CBP that you're entering on or after your two year anniversary.

[Ryan H 3,902]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[NikLR 13,234]

As far as I understand it, for Montreal, you police certificate is valid for 1 year before interview. After that it doesn't matter because a police certificate in Canada is valid for as long as the party requesting the police certificate deems if valid for. So in other words, it doesn't actually HAVE an expiration date.

Just to clarify, your visa is valid for six months from the date of your medical, NOT your interview. And this is subject to your police cert also being valid for that time. So as long as you had/have your medical on or after February 25th and your police cert doesn't expire before August 25th, sure you can prolong your move to the US by your marriage date to get a permanent green card from the get go. It does save a lot of time, hassle and money.

When you POE, be sure to have your marriage cert handy and point out to CBP that you're entering on or after your two year anniversary.

But you're correct that visa will be valid for 6 months from medical date and that having the marriage certificate handy is for the POE is also a great idea.

Looking at the OP's timeline, they don't even have an interview date booked and it's already April. They should be more than fine for a post 2 year POE for the IR1.