lilly123

Dear All,

I was on a L1A that was terminated by my emplyer 3 weeks before my wife was due to give birth, Obviously we was unable to travel and my wife had a c section. in july.

We are still in the US and booked a return flight because we was told that we needed to leave the country before 180 days of our visa expired. My wife was on bed rest for 9 weeks after her c section and is now fit to travel.

However we have not tied up our lose ends here because we have dogs to transport and a other personal items.
We was advised that we could leave the USand return on a VWP which would give us 90 days to clear our stuff and get orginized.

We booked our flights for thursday 22nd areturn on the 4th November, I was told I would need to complete an ESTA Form for me and my wife and my eldest daughter to get authorised to travel back to the US.

We did this last night both my wife and my daughter was approved but Iwas denied and I have no idea why.

What would be my next step would I get an appointment so quick in london to get a visitor visa please advise

Iam contemplating not getting on the flight now untill I have my house in order but that risks ever getting back in to the US.

Can i re apply for the ESTA?

Any feed back would be great

Many thanks.es

meauxna

How did your daughter get approved? If she was born in the US, she is a US citizen and must travel on a US passport. There are no restrictions on her entry to the US.

I'm not sure why your ESTA would not be approved; the system is new and people are just now sharing information about various configurations.
Even if approved, you might have an issue with being admitted.

You might also want to read Rich Wales' Dual Citizenship FAQ for info about your daughter.

lilly123

Hi Meauxna

I have 2 daughters one is 8 and a UK citizen the other is 3 months, Lilly has an American passport because when we realised we had to leave it was taking the british embassy in LA 12 weeks to turn one around we knew we would effectly over stay our welcome!

Is it worth me having another go at the esta later?

I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions

meauxna

I love the name Lilly.. so pretty! Is she the newest arrival?

It feels to me like you might want to find an immigration lawyer to get in touch with first thing next week.
When you said you were told you had 180 days to leave the country, that wasn't really the complete package, and I wonder if you'll find that the reason you were denied ESTA clearance is because you have overstayed your L admission.

You were out of status as soon as you were terminated, there is no grace period. After 180 days of overstay, a ban on your reentry is affected. That is, you earn a 3 year ban on returning. I am not crystal clear confident on your type of overstay so I don't want to say the wrong thing here, but I do think you're going to want some professional help.

Please hang on and wait for more answers; there are some people here who'll be able to state the issues with more accuracy than I.

This thread has some information for you, keep reading to the bottom.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=635880

crg

I agree with meauxna. You have been subject to removal since you fell out of status, the 180 days only helps if you aren't caught in the US. You should have filed a change of status request to a visitor in order to pack up and depart, but it's too late for that now. You are now one of the 12 million (give or take a few million) people who are illegally in the US.

If the eldest child is of school age, they are no longer authorized to attend school since you are no longer employed by the petitioner.

Of course, a c-section takes additional time to heal, but it usually doesn't take from July to October. It also doesn't prevent you from packing boxes.

How are you supporting yourself? If you transferred with your employer, does the foreign employer want you back in your home country? Aren't you eager to get back to work? What have you done to settle your affairs so far?

Jerseygirl

If the OP was unemployed I'm wondering how they paid the medical bills.

lilly123

Hi

My wife had Lilly on the 28th July but she was already having a complicated preganancy

When I advised my company back in the UK I could not fly due to my wifes condition they terminated my employment straight away.

This was a company who I worked for a total of 9 years and moved my family to the other side world.

I have been able to support myself on my savings and could possibly quite easily live here for 12 months and pay my bills such as morgage back home etc

I did apply for a visitors visa back in July with an attorney but the case is saying still pending etc and time is ticking on

lilly123

As for the medical bills I picked up the costs for those out here

Jerseygirl

Wow...it must have cost a fortune. If you were employed by a UK company perhaps you have some rights...ie can they terminate your employment without prior notice?

meauxna

That would have been for a Change of Status (not a visa, since you were still inside the US). Did you put that application in before you were terminated or after (ie did you know it was coming? sounds as if no). I believe you have to be in a valid status (still employed in your case) to be able to do a COS.

Those COSs do take time, but if your application was 'frivolous' I understand that the denial puts you back to your original out of status date. You might not hear back about the COS before you leave.

lilly123

So Guys is it worth applying for the esta again I seen some where that a gentle man applied was denied then tried 10 days later and was approved!!

Whats your thoughts?

JAJ

Perhaps not what you want to hear, but such a question goes beyond what a free forum can do. You need to speak to an immigration attorney.

meauxna

And what were the circumstances of that gentleman's case? The guy with the new UK passport & citizenship?

I'm not sure you really took in what we said.
ESTA is preapproval to travel on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
If you have overstayed a visa, you are not eligible to use the VWP.
Therefore, if you have overstayed a visa, there is no point in 'trying' ESTA. It should not approve you, and if ESTA misses it, you still have to answer the same questions at arrival and if you are inadmissible on the VWP, they won't admit you & youi're generally put on the next flight home.

lilly123

One last question

I can tunderstand why my wife and Daughter would get approved but not me since they are on the same visa or ex visa?

meauxna

I don't understand why either..