monkeybarry

Firstly - hello everyone!

Newbie here, and I will (hopefully) be here for many years to come!!

I have a quick question I wonder if anyone has come across before?
(appologies if this is posted in the wrong place).

Does anyone know if, when entering the US on a spousal visa, does the port of exit matter?

i am based in the UK and will immigrate to the US with my (US) wife over the next few years - however we are thinking of going via someone else before permanantly entering the US.

does anyone know if i HAVE to leave from the UK at the point upon which i enter the US on my spousal visa?

ian-mstm

You do not. Your visa is an entry document... it doesn't matter whether or not you enter the US from the UK or a 3rd country.

Ian

monkeybarry

Cheers Ian, that was my logical assumption, but for some reason it was in my mind that i had read the opposite somewhere.

And we all know how particular homeland security can about things.
I'll just try to avoid going from Columbia or Cuba

Thanks again Ian.

S Folinsky

As noted, travel by commercial carrier has no limit on the path to the United States.

If one is entering overland, there are a few remote POE's where it is best to make advance arrangements [I am aware of one Yukon-Alaska border crossing where this is recommended]. [Also, when I was in practice, the consulate at CDJ would give instructions as to which border crossing into El Paso was to be used.].

An immigrant visa is good for six months. One must start the continuous trip to the United States before visa expiry. If one remembers that the overwhelming majority of people came to the US by ship, the reason for the rule is obvious.

There is a case, where a person lived in a country which had three weekly flights to the US via the capital city. Before the visa expired, the person left home to fly to the port of departure and took the first available flight to the US, after the visa expired. It was held that the person had been required to depart the home country and therefore did not have a valid visa.

I recall another case where a person was on a ship from Europe to the US via Bermuda when World War II started. He got stuck in Bermuda for three months or so before he was able to book new passage. The extraordinary circumstances allowed the three months not to be a break in continuity.

monkeybarry

Thanks Folinsky;

We should be pretty much set to move before sending off the i-130 anyway, but might just try and fit in a few months of "round the world" travel prior to landing in the US