Do I need a visa if I have USA green card?

How long after Visa activation do I need to stay in USA before Green Card Issued?

• I have been issued with an immigrant Visa to enter the USA. It is valid for 6 months, but I am committed to finish a project with my current employer that still has 8 months to go until complete. If I enter the US and activate the Visa, can I leave again immediately (within say 1 week) prior to the physical Green Card issuing, so I can return to work overeas, finish the project and then return to live permanently in the US?

• Answer:

  Not for 8 months. You have 6 months to activate your visa, but from that day on you are a permanent resident and as such you have to reside permanently in the U.S. That's the idea! You cannot continue working for your current employer in your home country. If you do so, you are effectively abandoning your U.S. residency and will lose your Green Card. That's why they give you 6 months to tie up loose ends. Either you want to immigrate to the U.S. or you want to continue living in your old country. You can't do both. A Green Card is not a tourist visa, and if you try to use it as one, CBP will stop your game very fast and then you can continue working in your old country 'til the day you die.