• Hello Members, This forums is for DV lottery visas only. For other immigration related questions, please go to our forums home page, find the related forum and post it there.

Advice needed on re-entry to the US

H

heisenberg

Registered Users (C)
hi all,

I know this may have been covered before but needed to ask so I apologise.

I received my temporary visa in my passport last week from my interview a few weeks ago and the expiry date is May 27, 2013. I have an important work trip in April/May 2013 that I need to attend to and the date they want us to return is actually May 27.

I am committed to permanently moving to the US but want to get the work trip done as well. Am I okay to say enter the US in February for a week and use the temporary visa, return here to Australia and do my work trip and then go back permanently to the US after the work trip?

many thanks.
 
Several immigrant visas are good for single entry only, meaning you can't get out of the country and re-enter until you have the physical green card. I'm not doing consular processing, so I don't know whether a DV visa is valid for a single entry or multiple.
 
Hexa said:
Several immigrant visas are good for single entry only, meaning you can't get out of the country and re-enter until you have the physical green card. I'm not doing consular processing, so I don't know whether a DV visa is valid for a single entry or multiple.
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply Hexa.

I don't need the physical Green Card to leave the US do I? I will have it by the time I return.
 
based on what i know you can travel on your visa even though you don't have your plastic green card. You have to enter the country before the expiration date but then your stamp in the passport which you will get in the port of entry is your "green card" and you can travel on that for a year.
you should read your visa carefully. it all should be written there.
 
If your visa has the words 'upon endorsement, serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residence for 1 year,' you can enter any time before it expires, and leave and re-enter with that stamp and visa for 1 year. Make sure someone will check the post in the US for your actual GC and possibly social security card.
 
I have this all sorted now, thank you for the replies. The Embassy in Sydney advised me that I don't need to wait for my Green Card to be delivered to me and can be sent to me here by my friends at the US address that I provided when it arrives.

They also said something else: that when I enter the first time in the US they will stamp my passport with a date 12 months from the date of entry. and to make sure that when I return I enter the US before that date, which was mentioned above.
 
heisenberg said:
I have this all sorted now, thank you for the replies. The Embassy in Sydney advised me that I don't need to wait for my Green Card to be delivered to me and can be sent to me here by my friends at the US address that I provided when it arrives.

They also said something else: that when I enter the first time in the US they will stamp my passport with a date 12 months from the date of entry. and to make sure that when I return I enter the US before that date, which was mentioned above.
Click to expand...

Okay, so let me see if I understand .... you get a Temporary GC Visa which says you have to enter the US within 6 months of your successful interview? So you enter the US, say a month later, and they stamp your passport with a date 12 months after your entry? You leave the US to take care of business and tie up loose ends, and you just have to re-enter the US before that 12 month end-date? Correct?

This is all rather confusing but I need to know so I can make the appropriate travel plans.

PS: Congrats on your Green Card!!
 
hi,

The US embassy in Sydney is correct. You must enter US within 6 months to "activate" your US permanent residence status. hopefully the greencard will be mailed to the US address provided - it takes about 4 weeks from your date of entry to receive your greencard. The immigrant visa in your passport is a "temporary" greencard and it's valid for one year from the date of your "1st" entry to "activate" the permanent residence status. Anyway, by the time of your second entry, you should have received your greencard.

Remember you must maintain continuous present in US or else you will be at risk of being denied entry.

Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top