Leaving before Green Card?

Question

I hope this doesn't sound too complicated!

I want to first state that my husband and I filed his I-130, I-864, and other immigration papers at a US Embassy overseas (where we are currently living).

My husband was approved for his IR-1 immigrant visa to move to the US. The problem is that he is a pilot and is maintaining his current job until he can finish converting his license from ICAO to FAA. (He doesn't have that much to do, but currently he is waiting on the FAA to verify his foreign license so he can do this.) As soon as he gets his license converted he is going to apply to airlines in the US for a job.

The Embassy told us that this is fine and there should be no problems with his circumstances.

My question is this:

Because he will still be maintaining his job outside of the US at first, he will most likely need to leave before he receives his Green Card (I heard it can take months to receive). Will I need to send his Green Card to him in the mail, or is there anything else he will need to have/do when he enters the US the next time?

Answer 1

visit www.uscis.gov or call 1-800-375-5283 they can explain it very good.believe me im the guy who bothers them atleast 3times a week.okay one more thing you said about mailing him a green card in the mail is not a possibility ever that sort of official thing is a penalty for any mail service carriers to get the hold of such thing from someone just like that because of being a highly official substance they will not accept it unless that green card is mailed by uscis itself than they take it .so dont even think about mailing him the green card like i said before you should talk about this to uscis hotline as soon as possible they are very much capable of explaning it and in a good way.

Answer 2

Once your husband enters the US with his immigrant visa packet, the processing of his Green Card will begin.  You are right, it can take months for the card to arrive in the mail.  However, when he enters as an immigrant CBP will stamp his passport with a stamp that will say something like "Processed for I-551" and a date.  This stamp will give permission to enter and leave the US until that date with no further formalities, or until the Green Card arrives in the mail, whichever comes first.  It is not illegal to mail a Green Card, by the way.  But your husband will be able to simply collect it from you the next time he enters.

Answer 3

If he goes to states with out a return trip out of the states then yes he well need the greencard.

Answer 4

Perhaps the embassy feels that everything is fine, but one of the principles in immigration law is that the documents presented must be compatible with the purpose and intent. If your husband presents an immigrant visa but does not intend to reside in the U.S. at the time of the presentation, he could be found inadmissible as an immigrant.

If he isn't giving up his job, residence, and life ties overseas, he's not moving in. As you probably know, his immigrant visa is valid for presentation for six months from the date of its issuance. He could receive his FAA license during that 6 mo. period, and then use the visa to immigrate.

Or, you could hold off on receiving the visa from the embassy until he has the license he wants/needs.

The fact that he has to leave before he gets his green card is strong evidence that he isn't ready to immigrate to the U.S. If he has already received the visa, and hasn't presented it yet, he could ask the embassy for a replacement visa.

Under 22 CFR 42.74(b)(1) a consular officer may issue a replacement visa if the alien is unable to use the visa during its validity period.

Immigration officers at the U.S. ports-of-entry are not used to seeing pilots on foreign carriers presenting green cards or temporary green cards. He is going to look like an abandonment of residence case before he gets a chance to take up residence.

Answer 5

When sending I-130 package, you can simultaneously apply for Advanced Parole, which gets approved before Residency. If you have not done so yet, do apply for AP, otherwise you may run  into obstacles upon reentry.