IR1 Visa First Entry into USA

[andrewsulja]

Hi everyone, I just had my interview for my IR1 visa last week and received my Canadian passport back with my visa on one of the pages. I've been reading that the first trip into the USA is when they activate my green card in their system.

I'm in Windsor, ON so I cross quite frequently. When I cross for the first time, does it have to be when I intend on moving or can I still visit the USA before actually moving? Planning on actually moving in September (need to go by November 20, 2022).

Thank you.

[newacct]

You could try to enter as a visitor, but the officer may get confused if they see the immigrant visa and might admit you as an immigrant anyway. If you get admitted as an immigrant, you become a permanent resident, and you can still take trips to Canada at any time, although you are supposed to maintain a residence in the US. Since you are not going to be away from the US for long anyway, I don't think there's much risk of being considered to have abandoned residence.

[andrewsulja]

You could try to enter as a visitor, but the officer may get confused if they see the immigrant visa and might admit you as an immigrant anyway. If you get admitted as an immigrant, you become a permanent resident, and you can still take trips to Canada at any time, although you are supposed to maintain a residence in the US. Since you are not going to be away from the US for long anyway, I don't think there's much risk of being considered to have abandoned residence.

Thank you! So the two things I've read were that I can't be gone longer than a year and that in the first year in the USA, I need to spend at least 50% of my time there. So it's fine if they let me in as an immigrant the first time, considering that I'm planning on moving in September.