How soon do parents need to enter USA after getting visa?

U

user2020

New Member
I plan to apply GC for my parents shortly. I have few misc questions if anyone can answer.

i) Once they get Immigrant Visa, how much time do they have to enter USA? If it is "within VISA validity period" then, my question is -typically for how long is this immigrant visa valid for?

ii) From the point when application is filed, approximately how many months later would they need to go for medical examination?

iii) Is there a possibility to request "medical exam" done in local city rather than having to travel far away?

thank oyu
 
1. The visa expiry is set to 6 months from the date of the medical exam
2. At this point it is very hard to say because this category has been banned for visa issuance for the better part of a year and there is a big backlog. At this stage you can probably expect it to take at least a year after filing to get an interview invitation (which is when they will book the medical)
3. Medicals for US immigrant visas have to be done by approved “panel doctors”, typically only a couple/few per country. Smaller countries may have only one such doctor. You can check the website for the US embassy in your country to see where the doctors are. There is always a doctor in the same city as the interviewing embassy, so if it is far away what many people will do in such a circumstance is schedule the medical as close to the interview date as possible and just make one trip for both.
 
@SusieQQQ thank you for clear reply. For #2, I was not aware this category was banned for visa issuance or there was a big backlog. I am planning to work with local immigration attorney who has indeed indicated approx year long wait.
 
user2020 said:
@SusieQQQ thank you for clear reply. For #2, I was not aware this category was banned for visa issuance or there was a big backlog. I am planning to work with local immigration attorney who has indeed indicated approx year long wait.
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Well - I don’t think anyone really knows yet until interviews restart how long the actual wait to interview will be, so in other words, time to approval might take a year or so but it could take still many months after that for an interview, depending on embassy, some will be worse than others. It is not just parents that backlogged but most other family visa categories too, so there will be nearly a year’s worth of backlog of already approved cases ready to interview, as well as the petitions already in the system in process awaiting approval, in front of anyone filing now. Plus many embassies are not back at capacity due to Covid. I’d suggest filing as soon as you can just to get in the queue.
 
@SusieQQQ thank you for reply. My dilemma is, not knowing when my parent/s would be ready to come to US. I have two more questions that will help me decide the next step.
1) Once my parents get GC, and if they do not travel to US within the valid Visa period, can a new visa be applied for or will the entire GC process have to be restarted?
2) If i do not start GC process, and there is a need to bring parent with me to US (in short notice), can i bring them on Visitor visa? (by submitting 1-407 to abandon expired GC) thank you
 
I think you slightly misunderstand the process. At their interview they will get an immigrant visa. They do not get a green card unless and until they have entered the US on that visa before it expires. if the visa expires unused, you may or may not be able to get it reissued. Reissuance procedure exactly depends on the embassy, but generally you (they) have to provide a valid reason for why the visa was not used before it expired, and a new medical, possibly police report and DS260 (these last two if more than a year has passed after issuance) as well as visa fees will need to be paid again. If the embassy does not accept the application for reissuance then yes the process will have to start all over again.
if the immigrant visa is allowed to expire unused, well it is hard to tell if they will be granted a tourist visa because immigrant intent will have been expressed. That will probably count against them unless they have extremely strong ties to home to demonstrate. I407 does not come into it as they will not have had a green card in the first place.
 
ok got it. Everything you said on first question, i understand and it makes sense.

Let me give little more context for question #2. My parents got GC in 2010 and they visited for 3 years for couple of months each year. they have not returned to US since then. GC issues in 2010 is expired but i believe plastic card still needs to be handed over back. So, my question is, if i do not start GC process at all, can i just walk in to embassy and start the 'non-immigrant' Tourist visa? Is that a short simple few-days process? thank you again for help
 
Oh ok, I didn’t realize they previously had GCs.
Nothing is short and simple with tourist visas these days, most embassies are not processing them and you can expect big backlogs when they reopen for tourist visa issuance.
 
I apologize in advance for jumping in here with my question. I'm planning on applying for an immigrant visa, leading to a greencard for my parents. I'm stuck here.

My mother is my biological parent, but my biological father died almost 30 years ago. My biological has been remarried for 20+ years. i know that because i was not adopted by my step dad, and was not under 18. I cannot apply for my step dad. The question is, how does immigration process this? I know my mother would not come if her husband is not with her.

Do i submit the i-130 for my mom, and then what becomes of my step dad? at what point can she (assuming that she would be the one to apply for him) start the process? any chance they can both be processed at the same time? thanks in advance.
 
Pwsfsu said:
I apologize in advance for jumping in here with my question. I'm planning on applying for an immigrant visa, leading to a greencard for my parents. I'm stuck here.

My mother is my biological parent, but my biological father died almost 30 years ago. My biological has been remarried for 20+ years. i know that because i was not adopted by my step dad, and was not under 18. I cannot apply for my step dad. The question is, how does immigration process this? I know my mother would not come if her husband is not with her.

Do i submit the i-130 for my mom, and then what becomes of my step dad? at what point can she (assuming that she would be the one to apply for him) start the process? any chance they can both be processed at the same time? thanks in advance.
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Impossible for them to become LPRs at the same time but there is a way to swing them moving at the same time, though they will probably have to be apart a couple of months during this process.
Basically: you apply for her, as soon as she gets her visa she comes to the US to activate her LPR status. When she comes she does two things: files an i130 for him as spouse of LPR (F2A category), and files for a re-entry permit, which allows her up to 2 years outside the US without losing her green card. She can go back and live with him during those two years, which should be (historically have been) enough time for F2A to get processed and get a visa. At that stage they can move to the US together. Note that at the stage he is ready for a visa interview, she will need to show intent/proof that she will re-establish domicile in the US because she has been living outside for so long, and you would need to be a joint sponsor for i864 as she won’t have been earning US income.
re the time they would have to spend apart: Right now getting a re-entry permit is a long process but assuming it’s closer to normal by the time she gets a green card it will probably be 1-2 months from filing to biometrics, once she has done the biometrics she can leave (the permit can be sent to her closest embassy when processed).
 
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