Leaving U.S. for 5 months right after receipt of green card?

[Muscley_Love]

Wife has a contract with an employer in China (a major U.S. company, but the Chinese branch.. IE, "Company name" China) that upon fulfilling one year of work she will be entitled to collecting a bonus which equates to the sum of about 15 thousand USD.

 

Problem is, our timeline requires that we enter the States around mid September at the very latest. Then when she gets the green card in hand she is considering coming back to China and finishing up on the 4-5 months remaining on her current work contract... before coming to the U.S. to find me.

 

The safe bet for her to avoid Customs determining she's abandoned her green card is to just skip out on the 15 grand and plant anchor in the States. But in terms of the bonus $$$, it'd be a shame to have to do that.

 

Just for the record, when we were applying for the green card she didn't have her current job, this bonus thing only came out with her being promoted. So it's not that we planned bad, it's more like something good and unexpected that would be a shame to miss out on.

 

Do you think this will entail problems with Customs at the border?

Edited May 3, 2018 by Muscley_Love (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Do what you reasonably can to ESTABLISH her as a U.S. resident - driver's license, credit card, bank account, etc.

 

She should be fine with that with the simple explanation that the timing wasn't perfect as far as when she could come to the states.

 

If she hasn't interviewed or received her visa yet, you might consider delaying this - this can be done for up to a year.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Randy W (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

If you have not yet scheduled the visa interview you can always delay it for a few months or so until ready to actually move to the states. Only issues may have to get another police report if you have already done that, as for medical, that is typically done after you have set an interview date and have that confirmation.

 

As for the 5 months, travel shortly after arrival, as randy indicated, see if can get SSN, State ID, name added to lease, etc to show establishing residency, 5 months away is close to the point where they ask questions, more than 6 months is the point where questions start to happen, less than 6 months a travel document would not be needed, also the processing time for the I-131 can be long so may not be worth the effort if the intent is to arrive in the states for a couple weeks then return to China to finish up with the job.