Honeymoon in US Virgin Islands while waiting for Green Card?

T

tigerlibra

New Member
Hi,
Just married and want to honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands after we submit the application for my wife's Green Card (but before we receive her provisional travel permit).

Technically, the islands are US territory, but there is a border check in Puerto Rico and/or Miami. Is she safe? Her current B1B2 visa is still valid. Our lawyer said best to wait a week till after she gets her receipt, but that she "should" be OK.

There is a big difference between "should be " and "will be". Is this safe? Is Puerto
Rico any safer? Should we stick to Hawaii (which is much further from NYC)?

Thanks for your suggestions....
 
In my opinion VI Is a No, No for her until she gets her Green card. If you want to keep your wife in the US with you while waiting for her Green card, stick to the 50 states of the US and it's territories where you avoid immigration checkpoint. VI is not one of them. Hawaii is definitely safe, I think Puerto Rico is safe. But check on that one.
 
Because, when they will be coming back to the US, in best scenario they will be lying to the CBP officer about her "non immigrant" intend. She should not be reentering the US on tourist visa when she is married to the USC and intending to emigrate. It can backfire on them at the interview. In worse case when they admit to the CBP officer that they are married and going to file for adjustment of status after he lets them into the US on her B2, she will be denied entry to the USA.
 
Czech guy said:
In my opinion VI Is a No, No for her until she gets her Green card. If you want to keep your wife in the US with you while waiting for her Green card, stick to the 50 states of the US and it's territories where you avoid immigration checkpoint. VI is not one of them. Hawaii is definitely safe, I think Puerto Rico is safe. But check on that one.
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US VI is a US territory like Puerto Rico. Travel to either country directly from the US is not considered to be leaving the US.

However, in both places at the airports there are immigration agents asking people for papers. Not at check-in time, but after you check in and are in the section of the airport where you wait for the outgoing flight. That happened to me in Puerto Rico.

So she should not go to Puerto Rico or USVI without the I-485 receipt. I don't know if Hawaii is any safer -- they might have immigration spot checks just like PR and VI. Some domestic mainland airports have immigration agents roaming around doing spot checks.
 
Czech guy said:
Because, when they will be coming back to the US, in best scenario they will be lying to the CBP officer about her "non immigrant" intend.
Click to expand...

Upon returning from the US VI, they would not go through immigration in the US mainland. The arrival would be just like a US domestic flight.

If they go to VI and are asked for papers at the airport there, I would suggest showing the passport with the B1/B2 and I-94 (provided the I-94 is still unexpired). Chances are that will be more readily accepted than the I-485 receipt.

Then if it seems they are going to a computer to look up the visa or I-94 details, show them the I-485 receipt and explain that she entered with that visa but has since applied for a GC, because USCIS might have invalidated the B1/B2 in the system as a result of the I-485 filing. But that is unlikely; what they normally do is give your passport or GC a 3-second look and move on to the next person. They don't routinely (if ever) swipe your passport or GC for a US-bound flight, because flying from US VI or Puerto Rico to the US mainland is not considered an immigration exit or entry.
 
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I have never been to VI or Puerto Rico. I have been to Hawaii and I know it's safe to go without green card. My understanding about VI and PR is that Puerto Rico is a property of the USA so there is no immigration check point. Virgin Islands are different. They are shared with Great Britain and therefore you have to go through immigration check point. Maybe I'm wrong but you certainly don't want to find out the hard way.
 
Czech guy said:
Virgin Islands are different. They are shared with Great Britain and therefore you have to go through immigration check point.
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The Virgin Islands as a group are split between the US and Britain, but no individual island is shared. Some are owned exclusively by the US, some are owned exclusively by Britain. Traveling to and from the US-owned Virgin Islands will be just like Puerto Rico -- no immigration checks for the flight from mainland US to the island, immigration spot checks in the island's airport for the mainland-bound return flight, no immigration checks upon arrival back in the US.
 
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