IR5 - Arriving Just B4 Visa Expiration

[Bruin85 9]

Question: My wife's father received his IR5 visa yesterday and it shows that it is only good for 3 months. It expires May 20, 2018. We assumed it would be good for 6 months, so we had already booked a flight to go to Manila and pick him up. Our return flight arrives in Dallas on the morning of May 19th. My question is, will there be any problems with him arriving only 1 day before the expiration of his visa? Does his visa have to be valid for some period of time after he arrives here? Any insights into this would be appreciated. 

[car0593 42]

I wouldn't risk it... if something where to happen and the plane lands a day after the expiry date..the visa wouldn't be valid anymore! BUT if all the flights are on time arriving one day before or even the day of, wouldn't be a problem!

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

As long as he enters anytime before expiration, he will probably be OK.  However, you are taking a GIGANTIC risk!!!!  Anything can happen to delay him... I would suggest you change your plans, and your tickets........if you have to lose some money by scheduling his arrival sooner, so be it........Time and time again, people here on VJ say "Don't EVER buy plane tickets before you have the visa in hand......and now you know why.......I would do the safe thing........reschedule him for an earlier arrival......like a week or so earlier.......just my opinion..

Edited February 28, 2018 by missileman

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

One more thing.........my wife's CR-1 visa expiration was also 4 months after issue.

[doggieandsam 765]

agree with the others. i wouldn't risk arriving so close to the expiration date of the visa just in case delays happen. and they do! do you really want to risk potentially having to redo the whole visa process again and waiting years just to save money on rebooking fees? i think not.

Edited February 28, 2018 by doggieandsam

[JFH 12,190]

The expiration date on the visa is 6 months after the medical, not the interview or the date it was actually printed. 

 

This is is a huge risk. Whilst most flights land more or less on time, it's Murphy's law that this will be the one flight that is cancelled or delayed or re-routed. I once flew to Seattle via Newark from Europe and there was a medical emergency during the flight and we had to make an unscheduled landing in Canada to get someone to a hospital. After that the crew could not continue to fly as their hours were up and we had to wait for a new crew to arrive. End result - I missed my connection to Seattle and arrived a day late. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

As above, we landed 5 days before our visa expired and in retrospect I would never do that again, there were weather issues around that time, flights were getting canceled all over and if it’s a time of year when flights are full they can’t just “get you on the next one”. It was incredibly stressful and that’s a bad way to start a new life, especially with the implications of not getting the green card you’ve been waiting for for so long... I know someone who waited 2 weeks for a rescheduled flight after missing a connection - stuck somewhere they hadn't even planned to be for more than a few hours in transit. I’m sure that is on the extreme end of things, but it just shows it can happen. But even outside of bad weather and high season - I’ve been on a number of “normal” flights that have been delayed a day or so due to technical problems, or a delay in one meaning you miss the only or last connection to your destination, etc.  I’d swallow the rebook fee and make it at least a week before expiry.

Edited February 28, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[Italian_in_NYC 259]

All it takes is an extra-windy day in MNL, a mechanical problem to the aircraft, an overbooked flight, crazy traffic jam to get to the airport...

Seriously, these things happen every single day.

I would gladly spend the $200 (or whatever it is) change fee and anticipate his flight.