Noorah101

Their interview is coming up on Jan 30. See the OP's first post.

Rene

meauxna

Congrats on the interview date!
As you have read, you can (and many, many people have + posted their experiences) enter the US with an immigrant visa and then leave immediately if necessary, to complete your business in the Old Country.
However, 2 caveats because the IV bearer becomes a Permanent Resident at that entry:
--If you are selling real estate abroad, make sure you understand any capital gains tax potential. None of us is certain what that might be for any one individual, but MrF does keep mentioning it and it seems worth repeating.
--Now that he is a PR, the OH should be careful about his time outside of the US. The US is meant to be his primary home and an absence of 6+ months will affect his schedule for naturalization.


This article outlines the POE procedure: Arriving In America: Navigating the POE

Their official view of what? This is not a question in the 'Embassy's' domain.. they work for a whole other branch of gov't. You will get a faster result for searching this forum for experience posts and assurances from Folinskyinla. (LDJones was one poster who did the enter/turn around deal IIRC).
London is getting notoriously difficult to email--you are not the only one to have your email deleted unread.

Your immigrant used a US address somewhere in their application--that is their US address of record now. As you read in the article, he'll be asked at entry what his US address is --it's important, because of the mailing the Green Card and potentially Social Security card.
Follow FB's suggestions for getting the mail actually delivered.

It's all getting close!
I heard USC spouses can't go to the London visa interviews anymore.. did you get any notice about that?

Folinskyinla

Hi:

A lot of people enter to obtain LPR and then toodle on back to wind up their affairs.

However, if you are selling your house in the UK and it is worth more now then when you bought it -- give serious thought as to the timing. Once you take up LPR, you are are a resident for US tax purposes. I do NOT know the in-N-outs of this -- just that it is an issue.

Lily1976

Hi,
Great news about your husband's interview! I was just wondering - how long did it take from the time you sent in the letter stating you/he were ready for the interview to the US embassy replying with an interview date?

We just sent in our letter a few days ago and was just wondering how long I would have to wait! Know it is depends on the type of visa! - I am a USC sponsoring my husband.
Thanks!

cruickies

I posted on 8 Jan and got the letter on 17th with an appointment at the end of Jan... much quicker than I expected.
Someone I know got their letter 2 weeks afetr they posted the forms and their appointment was 6 weeks later, so either they got more efficient or there are fewer applications at this time of year...

cruickies

Update:
got a response from my email to the embassy (yes...even though I got an automated email telling me the email had been deleted without being read!).

So here is the official view from the Embassy (bearing in mind that they are not part of Immigration!)

On issuance of the visas, you should use them to travel to the U.S. before the expiry date. The US petitioner is required to either travel to the U.S. ahead of your initial entry on the visa, or travel with you.

"Your passports will be stamped on arrival at the port of entry into the United States. Upon endorsement the immigrant visa will serve as temporary evidence of Permanent Residence and will be valid for one year. If you have to leave the United States you may do so and then return on the endorsed visa provided it is still valid. There is no time limit required to remain in the U.S. before leaving again. "


Interestingly they also said we have to bring the kids into the appointment and had NOW scheduled them for an appointment at the same time as my husband. Not sure how we are going to entertain them for 2 hours at the embassy...I can't wait! Wish us luck the appointment is on Weds 30 8.30 am!

rjwhartley

Hi, was wondering if you could help me out with a question i had. I have my orange visa parcel and i have my passport sticky mrv but my port of entry is Chicago then we connect to Detroit (our last stop). We have a 4 hour lay over. How long does the processing take at the port of entry? I worried i may miss my next flight

Any info would be great. Cheers Rob

wisewol

We had similar situation as we arrived in Philladelphia with a 2 hr lay over whch w knew was cutting it fine. Our flight was then delayed and we ended up with just half hour between landing and take off so we assumed no chance of catching flight but fortunately for us the immigration part was really quick only 15 min so we made it. I think othres will tel you though that it can take a long while so it is just luck of the drawer as to how many people are there and what kind of day the officer is having. I would think 4 hrs should be fine.

rjwhartley

Thanks for replying so quickly, this forum is great. Is there any information anywhere (i,e, websites etc) about the port of entry procedure/times etc? Do they take you to one side or is it just done at the normal window where you show your passport? I guess 4 hours will be okay but if it is cutting it fine, perhaps we could change our flight now, probably be less expensive than on the day. Any ideas?

Cheers

Rob

wisewol

You get sent or taken to a completly different area. In my husbands case as we arrived at passport control they took his envelope and passport and sent him off to a seperate room. He then just went up to a desk where they took all his fingerprints and then more or lss waved him on. I think theough sometimes they can take you off for a secondary interveiw in a private room and thats when the waitng game and time factor comes into play. I would think 4 hrs should be ok just so long as there are no delays. Which airport are you flying form originally. We were from Gatwick the day after boxing day so it was major busy hence the delay

rjwhartley

We fly from Manchester on a Monday morning so hopefully it will all go smoothly. I think you are right, that 4 hours should be plenty. If I miss my flight because of the processing maybe they would put me on a later flight anyway if i mention this if thing look like they are going slowly. Thanks for the advice. Can't believe how long this process takes. We married in September last year and started the paperwork, only just got my visa this morning. At least it's here

Cheers Rob

Noorah101

Our K-1 entry at JFK took about 2 hours. We made it to our connecting flight with about 20 minutes to spare.

I think a 4-hour layover should be plenty.

Hey, yours was quick! Only 8 months! Ours took 14!

Rene

cruickies

The processing for my hubby and kids took about 15 minutes in total - at San Francisco airport. We were the only ones in the new immigrant queue.

Good luck

meauxna

You could read the article linked above; Arriving in America. It explains your questions.

Our experience was also about 15 minutes. The part you can not predict is how many people will be waiting in front of you to be checked in.

rjwhartley

Thanks for the help. I don't know how i missed that link but i read it through and it answers everything. Perfect.

I look forward to my 'bunch of roses' at my POE.

Cheers

Rob