# Travel to US with immigrant visa



## xylo (Mar 8, 2010)

Hi there,

My husband is American and my application for immigrant visa is ongoing. The next step for me is to get my medicals done and a tentative interview is already set. We have requested to indefinitely postpone the interview due to risk in finances. We believe that if I am granted the immigrant visa, I'd need to move(?) to the US before 6 months is up.

*My questions are: can we all just go on holiday/vacation and return to NZ (at least for another year) so that we can save more for the move? Should I be granted green card on arrival, how is leaving within a month going to affect that?*

I haven't found anything on this yet but I may have to do more research.

We are employed here in NZ and we have intentions of moving to the US within 1.5 yrs but due to economical issues, I prefer that my husband gets a job there first and then me and our child follow within a few months. 

Thanks in advance for any response.

Cheers,
Xylo


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

xylo said:


> Hi there,
> 
> My husband is American and my application for immigrant visa is ongoing. The next step for me is to get my medicals done and a tentative interview is already set. We have requested to indefinitely postpone the interview due to risk in finances. We believe that if I am granted the immigrant visa, I'd need to move(?) to the US before 6 months is up.
> 
> ...



Every time the embassy asks for something, you've got a year to produce it. After that, your petition dies.

Once the visa is issued, you've got 6 months to use it, or it also dies. However if your medical or criminal record check expire first (they're valid for 12 months -- whatever they might say on the paperwork), then the validity of the visa will be cut such that these are still valid on entry.

You can turn round on entry and catch the same plane back if you want. However, from that day forward you must maintain your permenant residency. As a general rule of thumb, trips up to 6 months out are okay, up to 12 months and you are going to be serious questions, and over 12 months you're going to be arguing your case in front of an immigration judge. Abandonment of residency is a complicated issue not just based on time out though.

You can apply for permission to stay out for up to 2 years for a valid reason --- but this must be applied for within the US and you need to give your biometric data here too before you leave.

There's also an option to just let the petition die and refile again around 12 months before you intend to take up residence.


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