2 month travel outside of US right after entering on immigrant visa?

[MexicoExpat 18]

Hi,

 

My wife and I are almost finished with the process of obtaining her green card. We understand that she will receive her immigrant visa first, and her green card will come in the mail once we enter the US. 

 

My wife and I both live in Mexico, which is neither of our home countries, but we are residents here. We are doing the whole process here in Mexico. 

 

Upon receiving her immigrant visa, we plan to spend 2 months in the US traveling around, before heading to my wife's home country for two months. She wants to do an extended visit to see family before starting our lives in the US, plus get some of her belongings from her home country that she will need for our new life in the US. 

 

On the way back from her home country, we will fly back to the US, spend a few days, then head to Mexico for about a week to visit friends and collect the rest of our belongings - so we don't need to take them all over the place in the meantime. 

 

I know that generally green card holders aren't at risk of losing their green cards until they have been out of the US for more than 180 days. 

 

Do things change at all though so close to just starting permanent residency? Of her first 4 months of permanent residency, she will be in the US for the first 2 and out for the second 2. 

 

I feel like we can easily explain our plans to visit her home country and get belongings, especially having gone through the green card process in a third country. 

 

Was just curious if there's any holes or risks in my plan. 

[SorrowL 138]

You can leave for up to one year on a LPR card, up to two years with an advanced parole. You can re-enter the US on a validated CR/IR1 visa until the date on the validation stamp. 
 

Leaving for two months after issue of a LPR status is not forbidden, and it won’t negatively impact the status. CBP may ask some questions, but 2 months isn’t long.

Edited January 22, 2020 by SorrowL

[Lil bear 3,831]

17 minutes ago, MexicoExpat said:

Hi,

 

My wife and I are almost finished with the process of obtaining her green card. We understand that she will receive her immigrant visa first, and her green card will come in the mail once we enter the US. 

 

My wife and I both live in Mexico, which is neither of our home countries, but we are residents here. We are doing the whole process here in Mexico. 

 

Upon receiving her immigrant visa, we plan to spend 2 months in the US traveling around, before heading to my wife's home country for two months. She wants to do an extended visit to see family before starting our lives in the US, plus get some of her belongings from her home country that she will need for our new life in the US. 

 

On the way back from her home country, we will fly back to the US, spend a few days, then head to Mexico for about a week to visit friends and collect the rest of our belongings - so we don't need to take them all over the place in the meantime. 

 

I know that generally green card holders aren't at risk of losing their green cards until they have been out of the US for more than 180 days. 

 

Do things change at all though so close to just starting permanent residency? Of her first 4 months of permanent residency, she will be in the US for the first 2 and out for the second 2. 

 

I feel like we can easily explain our plans to visit her home country and get belongings, especially having gone through the green card process in a third country. 

 

Was just curious if there's any holes or risks in my plan. 

All good. Enjoy !! Reentry into the US with the stamped visa in her passport .... good for 12 months after entering using the spouse visa.. just make sure someone is checking your mail for the GC as it will arrive between 1 and 6 months after POE. It’s worth visiting the SSA office ASAP and getting her SSN sorted out before you start your travel 

Edited January 22, 2020 by Lil bear

[Boiler 43,397]

2 months is a lot less than 6 months.

[MexicoExpat 18]

5 minutes ago, Boiler said:

2 months is a lot less than 6 months.

I understand this. I just couldn't find any info on whether or not there is any weight placed on how short of a time she had been a permanent resident before spending 2 months out.

 

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. 

[Just Paul 4,591]

No issues - we came from Mexico on a sunday and returned on a friday to get more stuff.   A few weeks later we flew to the Philippines. 

 

Just used the visa endorsement.

 

Just keep track of travels as USCIS will want to know how many total days you were out of the country if she does citizenship.  (They only go back 5 years once che comes to the US.)

[MexicoExpat 18]

14 hours ago, Lil bear said:

All good. Enjoy !! Reentry into the US with the stamped visa in her passport .... good for 12 months after entering using the spouse visa.. just make sure someone is checking your mail for the GC as it will arrive between 1 and 6 months after POE. It’s worth visiting the SSA office ASAP and getting her SSN sorted out before you start your travel 

Thanks for the reassurance. On my wife's DS-260 there were a couple questions at the very end about the social security number, so I think it will happen as a part of of the process and we won't need to visit SSA as a separate visit. 

[MexicoExpat 18]

12 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

No issues - we came from Mexico on a sunday and returned on a friday to get more stuff.   A few weeks later we flew to the Philippines. 

 

Just used the visa endorsement.

 

Just keep track of travels as USCIS will want to know how many total days you were out of the country if she does citizenship.  (They only go back 5 years once che comes to the US.)

Thanks for the reassurance. Having made use of the foreign earned income exclusion for the past decade, I'm no stranger to tracking how many days I've been in the US in a given year. No issues there. 

[Lil bear 3,831]

1 hour ago, MexicoExpat said:

Thanks for the reassurance. On my wife's DS-260 there were a couple questions at the very end about the social security number, so I think it will happen as a part of of the process and we won't need to visit SSA as a separate visit. 

It may and it may not. Around 50%arrive as expected. If you have the opportunity to get it done then that will eliminate the wondering ,,