Our IR-1 Visa was approved!!

[Oreo96 8]

Hello,

We just got our IR-1 visa approved on December 12th, 2023!!

We are now waiting for the visa to arrive and plan on booking the flight ticket once it arrives.

 

I was wondering when booking flight tickets if I need to book a one-way ticket for my spouse or if it is okay to book a round-trip ticket and then cancel the return flight upon arrival to the US? I am asking because the one-way tickets seem to be way more expensive (twice as much) than round-trip tickets. Has anyone else booked their flight to the US this way?

 

 

 

[bakphx1 789]

They really only care about the outbound ticket for visitors, not immigrants.  In our experience there was not a question about the ticket type, and I don’t know of anyone else that’s been asked.  It’s not unusual for someone to arrive to activate their visa and return to finish up loose ends in their home country.  With the visa, your spouse can travel in and out again so I don’t see a problem or a reason it would be looked at.

[Vickys_Mom 230]

2 hours ago, Oreo96 said:

I was wondering when booking flight tickets if I need to book a one-way ticket for my spouse or if it is okay to book a round-trip ticket and then cancel the return flight upon arrival to the US? I am asking because the one-way tickets seem to be way more expensive (twice as much) than round-trip tickets. Has anyone else booked their flight to the US this way?

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection won't care.  If they ask why you have a return ticket tell them it was cheaper that way.

 

If you do it to the same airline, multiple times, and they keep track of it, they may eventually tell you to take your business elsewhere.

 

Regards,

Vicky's Mom

[TBoneTX 45,498]

No problem for a CR-1 or IR-1 entrant.

 

Conversely, if K-1 entrants buy a round-trip, it's important that they cancel the return portion as a priority after they enter the U.S.  This is because airlines sometimes fail to correct their passenger manifests and the K-1 entrant is erroneously listed as having left the U.S. before AOS, thus having to prove the "negative" of "no, I didn't leave."

[Oreo96 8]

20 hours ago, bakphx1 said:

They really only care about the outbound ticket for visitors, not immigrants.  In our experience there was not a question about the ticket type, and I don’t know of anyone else that’s been asked.  It’s not unusual for someone to arrive to activate their visa and return to finish up loose ends in their home country.  With the visa, your spouse can travel in and out again so I don’t see a problem or a reason it would be looked at.

Thank you so much for the quick reply! We may do it that way then, unless the ticket prices miraculously end up going down once the visa arrives.