Hocnos

I did follow all the requirements, I had all the right documents, i94 was not on the checklist, but she insisted that she cannot proceed without it. Edit: To be specific, she said she cannot proceed without the Admission ID, which was previously written under the stamps when entering as non-LPR (ie ESTA). My i551 endorsement stamp has only the date of admission, but no Admission ID. Yes to the ds260, however I already have SSN (from my previous stay on work visa). I even have expired Read ID, so I was just "renewing".

Hi, I recently entered on IR1 visa for the first time, which activated it and I got my passport stamped for the i551 endorsement. 5 days later, I went to DMV to get my DL, but was told I need to bring printed i94 form. From my understanding, however, i94 is not issued to LPRs, and was therefore confused about this requirement - and indeed, my i94 record doesn't show my last entry on IR1 visa, but shows my almost 1 year old entry on ESTA. After printing it out, the DMV employee said she cannot accept that i94, as it doesn't show the correct status, and that she won't be able to issue me DL without the "Admission number". She said to wait a week for my i94 to update. What is the correct procedure here? I believe the DMV employee was wrong, as the i94 won't be updated with my entry on LPR status. I can also see my last entry correctly listed under 'Travel History', but that is not part of the i94 form.

Adding data entry - from petition to visa in hand, ±14 months total. Good luck everyone!

Thanks, but the tax situation is more complicated with foreign assets and investment accounts. Just considering the strategies. That's an interesting idea! Perhaps explaining to CBP the intent to just visit for holidays and postponing the final IV move to later due to timing/logistic reasons could work, but relies on CBP's understanding and discretion. I wish there would be an official guidance on this.

Thanks for the link to the old post, that was an interesting read. But seems the takeaway is that it won't be realistically possible. I would still be interested in knowing whether there are any official rules/guidance for CBP, or if its all just up to their interpretation.

For example: taxes. If you can postpone the start of your residency to the next year, your tax obligations would start in the next year, which might have significant financial implications.

Hi all. I know this might sound like a very strange question, but theoretically, if one is issued CR1 visa, could that person still travel to the US on ESTA for a visit, and not activate the residency (i551)? I know there are certain rules for multiple visa holders, but I can't find anything about this particular situation. In this scenario, the CR1 visa would be still valid. Any ideas?

Another take - shipping personal/household items to the US will cost thousands of euros (personal experience). It will be cheaper to just buy the items new in the US.

OP is USC, overstay is automatically waived.

Certainly sounds rehearsed and over-prepared, which could be a red flag so they might want to doublecheck his/your documents and claims.

As a side, and to avoid future confusion OP - when you become US resident (GC holder), you will have the same requirement as her - you will need report your taxes to IRS no matter where your income is from or where you live. So be prepared to be filing in both UK and US after you move. Good luck.

Agreed 100%. As others have said, these are not immigration questions. OP, you are already married - meaning you already are financially responsible for your wife, whether you like it or not. If I was your wife, this right here would be a huge red flag for me, potentially a deal breaker.

ROK2USA explained it well in his reply, so I will just add to it. What you are describing is called Direct Consular Filing, which is allowed only in exceptional circumstances: Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/filing-petitions-outside-the-us.html So unless you qualify for that, you will be filing in the US, into the USCIS mailbox (even if you live outside of US), or online. You will file form i130. That will take 6 months to 1 year to process, and then it will move to the NVC stage. Since your spouse lives outside of the US, once it is approved by NVC, it will be forwarded to one of the embassies listed here already: Turkey, UAE or Armenia. And then it will/can take another 250-470 days to process there for the Embassy to call your spouse for an interview.

Just FYI, don't look at the US based processing centers (since you are going through Consular Process), but look here: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/irstats.php Processing times are therefore from around 250 days to 470 days for time from when the embassy receives the application to the interview.

As others have said, this won't work. Green Card is just colloquial name for "Permanent Resident Card", meaning it is intended for people permanently residing in the US. Not only you won't qualify for it due to non-existent US domicile of your spouse, it is also about your intentions - if you interview, and claim to intent to reside in the US, but then you don't, that could be considered material misinterpretation (meaning a fraud). Avoid these legal pitfalls and apply when you are ready to move to the US to live there permanently. Will save you a lot of headache.

I don't know, sorry. Consider talking to an immigration lawyer before you travel.

So you traveled with expired Green Card before? I mean, I'm sorry OP, but that doesn't sound like 'oh I forgot to renew my status in the US', it sounds like you deliberately were not keeping up with the status in the US. I have to take back what I said about you having straightforward case before, it will be much harder to prove you were intending to keep your residency if you knew it expired and took no action. Please consider my previous advice to you void.

If you are not using your GC to fly, then yes, you are required to be fully vaccinated. I will not advice an any narratives you should use when talking to the CBP/USCIS officials, as you should always say the truth, but will say delays due to covid, health and family reason, including and not limited to child birth are all legitimate. Also, be warned, if you do this, you will have to appear for hearings and present your case before an immigration judge who will ultimately decide on your case based on the evidence presented. It will be long and potentially expensive process, and I would recommend you get an immigration lawyer. It won't be easy. Lastly, I would suggest to move this thread to the LPR forum, as you are a LPR and should investigate reinstatement of your status before you go through the CR1 route.

Yes, you can. The document, from CBP, is official guidance for airlines to allow your boarding. You can print it and bring it with you. However, some airlines might have a problem with that, true - if you don't feel confident in arguing with them, just show them your ESTA and say nothing about the GC. Once at the border, to the officer admitting you in, show the GC and say nothing about the ESTA. You can also withdraw the i130, but I would not do that. Did you get your original GC through your current husband? Or by some other means? While you lived in the Netherlands for 7 years, were you separated from your husband or were you together? What was the reason for your departure from the US? These questions and more will be asked to establish whether your residence can be reinstated.

Yes.

There is so much going in this thread, and so much bad advice. Let's get the facts straight: Once you become Permanent Resident of the US, you are a resident, permanently, unless (among other factors) you demonstrate intent to no longer reside in the United States. From your messages here it sounds like your intent is to reside in the US, so my question is: Did you file for SB1? Why do you have i130 pending? You already have GC, although expired, meaning you already are a LPR. Now, for the travel to the US, what are your intentions? Be honest here, because you only have 1 try, so it is important to do it right. If your intent is to go back and seek reinstatement of your LPR status, then you should plan to travel to the US with that intention, for long-term/permanent stay, not just a visit. I assume this is the case, as you already have i130 pending. If your intent is to just visit and come back to the Netherlands for some other reason than waiting for the i130 to process, then my advice would be to not travel at all (need more information). So, if your intent is to reinstate your LPR status in the US, you can fly to and enter the US using your 10 year GC alone even if it's expired. You will be questioned and asked to sign i407, but you can refuse and you will be paroled in and set for immigration court date. CBP officer cannot deny entry to LPRs. Period. That has to come from the Immigration Judge. Although the reasons for your long-term departure from the US are unclear to me, your case is pretty straightforward - your husband and kids are USCs. Again, however, why do you have pending i130? You are already LPR, or did I miss something? Your application might raise questions when processing by USCIS, as they will locate your old files and wonder why you're applying for a green card when you already appear to have one. Usually, just to make sure the record is clear, its recommended to file i407, before submitting the new i130.

OP you can confirm without a doubt by checking MyUSCIS account. Under her profile, it will state if you have A number.

US born citizens cannot have A-number, it stands for Alien Registration Number. A citizen cannot be an alien. Her i130 got approved, meaning her spouse now has A-number assigned. If OP is not US born citizen and immigrated to the US, I'm pretty sure she would recognize her own A number, as it is the same number that is printed on her citizenship certificate.

People are making it hard to understand for you, OP. 1) You, the Petitioner, can have A number if you are not US born citizen, for example. If you, the Petitioner, came to US from another country, and went through the immigration process, would have A number. 2) Your overseas spouse, the Beneficiary, is going through the immigration process now. The i130 you filled is for him, and therefore the A number on NOA2 is the Beneficiary's A number. 3) i864 is asking for two separate A numbers. One for the Petitioner, one for the Beneficiary. Under Beneficiary, you write the A number from i130. Under petitioner, if you don't have A number yourself, you write nothing and leave it blank. Hope this helps.