chopper40

Hi
I got my I-551 stamp in the UK in Jan09 and have until mid July to travel to USA to gain legal permanent residency at POE.

I am planning to travel to USA for Easter and will take my brown envelope, X-ray etc to activate my permanent residency.

However I'm not yet ready to make the final move. I plan to return to UK to sort out my flat, etc etc

Has anyone ever had any problems leaving the country so soon and not really taking up permanent residency right off the bat??
I understand you can be out of the country for up to a year before residency expires but just want to know if there might be any problems in doing this.
Thanks

dreamercon

You should be fine if you come back to the US to settle within six months after the first entry.

Norri

I agree it should be ok but do you have someone set up to receive GC etc?

Noorah101

You do NOT have an I-551 stamp in you passport (from reading up on your other thread). You have an Immigrant Visa, which allows you to come to the USA and BECOME a permanent resident. I would also be VERY surprised if you have your SS Number already (unless you had it from before, if you ever worked in the USA before...).

You can come to the USA and activate the visa at the POE, which makes you a US PR at that very moment. Make sure you have a stable mailing address in the USA for your green card (and perhaps SS card) to be mailed to, and make sure the POE Officers have that correct US address on file. The person at that address who receives your green card should Fed Ex it (or other trackable method) to you overseas...you will need it to enter the USA the next time.

You are free then to turn right around and return to the UK if you want to, but I recommend not staying outside the USA for longer than 6 months.

And just as an aside regarding your other thread...if you want to job-hunt from overseas, after you have become a PR, make sure your resume says that you are a US Permanent Resident, and make sure you use a US Address on it. Responses to an overseas address will not be favorable.

Rene

chopper40

Thanks Rene
I'm obviously a little confused about what visa I have. I looked in my passport and I have an IR1 immigrant visa. It says "upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residence for 1 year"
I appreciate this is for just until I get the real thing in the mail.

Good advice about having a mailing address-I will use my in-laws for that, as well as the address on my resume! (As an aside, someone also suggested getting a Vonage phone number...I researched that and I'm going to get a California dial code number which will route to my phone in the UK. This will also be great for my US family to use when calling us, Plus its cheaper than Virgin Media!)

Regarding having a SSN, I have one from when I was on a BUNAC work exchange programme when I was at Uni. I assume I can still use this?

Thanks once again

chopper40

Noorah101 thanks! Sorry I thought you were Rene!
Too many helpful people on here LOL!

ian-mstm

Noorah101 *is* Rene!

Ian

Noorah101

LOL....you are right, I am *Rene*. Noorah101 is my Username on here. You can call me either Rene or Noorah, but don't call me late for dinner. (hahaha..favorite joke of my dad's).

Glad you cleared up your visa type. IR-1 visa allows you to immigrate. Once you get to the US POE, they will "activate" your PR status, and you will become a US PR on the spot. The actual plastic green card shows up a few weeks later in the mail (to your in-laws address, make sure you give them that address at the POE).

And yes, you keep the same SSN, it's yours for life. I don't know if yours has a legend which says "valid for work only with DHS authorization", but if it does, you'll want to get a new SS card once you have your green card in hand, because you will no longer need that legend on there, and it confuses employers to see it.

Rene aka Noorah

meauxna

That's the one.. the thing is, it will not be 'endorsed' (stamped) until you get to the US and are being admitted.

THEN it will be a temporary I-551 (green card).