Visa to travel to Colombia for new spouse?

[lswote]

I am getting married in February in Colombia and will be bringing my new wife to the US with a spousal visa.  My fiancee's father is ill and she may want or even need to return to Colombia to see him but Nelson at LAI told me he thought that she wouldn't be able to travel to Colombia for 6 months to a year after she arrived in the US on a spousal visa.  Or maybe she can travel there but just can't get back in the US afterwards, I don't know.

First off, I would like to know if any other guys who brought their wives to the states on spousal visas know if this is true or not.  It would seem odd that one government can restrict or would even want to restrict travel on citizens of another country but I realize anything is possible when the government is involved.

And if it is true (if someone could explain why I would appreciate it), Nelson said that we could apply for some kind of emergency visa or waiver or something like that that allowed travel for extenuating circumstances with illness in the family.  Is anyone familiar with this and if so, could you please tell me what it is and how to apply for it?

[DavidMN]

... in response to Visa to travel to Colombia for new spous..., posted by lswote on Dec 9, 2002

Your question may have already been answered; if not, here's two more free resources:

alt.visa.us
alt.visa.us.marriage-based

Your e-mail client needs to have a newsgroup reader or you can go to Google (they bought the Dejan News site) via www.groups.google.com

Good luck,

David

[Pete E]

... in response to Visa to travel to Colombia for new spous..., posted by lswote on Dec 9, 2002

Bruce,
Nelson must be confusing spousal visas with fiance visas.When your wife gets a spousal visa she is a temporary
permanent resident and can travel at will.Also she will get her green card in the mail in 6 weeks or so.She can get an SS card and work right away.90 day before 2 years are up you need to apply to make her residence permanent.They will give her a one year extension while they consider this.It took 9 months for my wife to get her permanent resident card.Its good for 10 years and can automatically be renewed.She could be a citizen in 2-3 years if she pursued it.

Pete

[lswote]

... in response to No travel problems with spousal visa, posted by Pete E on Dec 9, 2002

I just called Nelson and he believes he may be mistaken and that it is the financee visa he is thinking about but I would welcome the feedback of any other people who have gone through the spousal visa process and know about this issue in case something has recently changed.

[Kit]

... in response to Re: No travel problems with spousal visa, posted by lswote on Dec 9, 2002

I personally didnt go through the process but here is what I know:

1/ once she is in she should receive her CGC (conditional green card) shortly after which time she is free to go in and out of the country as she pleases.

2/ what Nelson probably was referring to is "Return Residency Permit". this is when you have a green card and plan on leaving for longer than 6 months in a year. the thing is that once in posession of GC you should stay in the country for at least 6 months in a year (use it or loose it condition). if you plan on being outside us for longer than that, you have to apply for RRP. and that 6 months is a total time outside the country. it may consist of 1 or more trips.