We finally finished off the last steps toward getting my wife permanent resident status in the US.

The lady at the Consulate told us a few things that sounded a bit odd to me. If any of you have such experiences, I would really love your input!

Arrival
We have to present the unopened packet at the passport control. The officer will give her a stamp indicating that she can legally live and work in the US.
However, the lady told us that we need to ask for a 2nd stamp to be able to leave the country. Also, she said that it could take 1-3 hours to clear immigration upon arrival.

Is this common? Silly me was hoping that since the Consulate approved the paperwork, we could trade the packet in for a stamp and be on our merry way. What generally happens that requires such a wait?

Actual card
According to the immigration web site, it takes 8-10 weeks to receive one's greencard. The lady at the consulate told us one year.
Which is more accurate?

Thanks for any help to these questions!

Welcome home!! Let us know when you get settled down finally, and invite us over for the house-warming party.

My wife and I adopted a child from China last month - we were given a packet of information from the US consulate in China and told to hand it unopened to US immigration as they would process the paperwork upon arrival, we waited about an 1&1/2 at LAX to be processed. Our daughter received her permanent resident card about 10 days later :-). Not sure if the situation is the same but sounds like it could be - was pretty straightforward though, good luck :-)

You may find some answers here:

http://www.eskimo.com/~parents/webpre/dv/messages/

http://www.aila.org/

http://travel.state.gov

http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/index.htm

Added this:

http://www.visalaw.com

[This message has been edited by USAFAN (edited 10-02-2003).]

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful answers.

The card will certainly take more a lot more than ten weeks to arrive. Make sure that when your wife arrives here, she gets an INS stamp in her passport saying that she has permanent status, and that she can go back and forth.

This stamp has an expiry date - be sure that hers doesn't expire for at least a year, just to be safe.

You can ask the INS agent - this is a minor detail and it is at the agent's discretion. You will have to make an appointment at your local field office for this, and stand in line. But it is worth it, because I guarantee you that her card ain't coming any time soon.

Congrats!

There is a separate "First-time immigrant" line at every port of entry. The process can be very fast assuming that the booth is manned. Don't open the packet before you get tot the airport. Your wife will get the I-551 stamp in her passport, get fingerprinted and she's good to go.

How long your plastic card will take depends on your port of entry, where the actual plastic card will be processed, etc. It can take from 4 weeks to a year in the worst case. Forget about finding out the status, the phone lines are always busy. If you do not know your port of entry yet, do a little reseach on the net to find out which port of entry currently has the shortest processing times, and book your flight accordingly.

More info on current wait times here
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php? s=4dfd1cdbc69b89d274edd92480f01869&threadid=78010& highlight=plastic+card

The I-551 stamp was for a while the most forged immigration document; it's as good as a green card but it looks like a deceptively simple red stamp in the passport, that anyone could forge very easily.

Therefore, between the time that your wife gets it and the time that she is actually entered into the computer system, expect a secondary inspection if she leaves the country and comes back.

At least that was the procedure before Ashcroft times. Perhaps things have changed and now they do require a second stamp before leaving the country if you do not have the physical card, it would make sense that they'd have made the process more foolproof.

Congrats again!

[This message has been edited by Droneklax (edited 10-04-2003).]

Congratulations to both of you! Diversity is what makes the United States such a wonderful place, and I'm always thrilled when people want to become permanent residents here.

Your FT friend,
eastwest

I did this several years back, and found it to be a fairly painless procedure. You can enter immigration through the line for US citizens and permanent residents. I just handed over my documents and they directed me to a nearby room where I waited with a bunch of other people for around an hour or so while they processed the paperwork and whatnot.

Make sure your connection is not too close, as I could easily see a missed flight happening, especially if there are any questions they have for your wife. This shouldn't be the case though.

I was told to expect my green card in about 9 months, but it showed up in about 3, so I was very pleased