Southsearocks

Hi there

I've already posted another thead about our predicament but have a specific question.

We came to the US on a short trip (two weeks) but my waters broke at 28 wks pregnant and I'm now in hospital on bed rest until the baby is born and then healthy enough to fly home. That could be months.

We came over on the ESTA and it is likely to run out before we are ready to go. I read that the USCIS might grant an extension of less than 30 days but I'm worried that will only be for me and not my partner.

We can't be the only people this has happened to - does anyone know what we could do in this situation to ensure we can stay together?

meauxna

I've never seen anyone post the details of doing this, presumably they are private matters. This came up most recently during the volcanic eruption that closed some airports.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...s-an-emergency

How to extend my Visa Waiver Program stay in the U.S. if there is an emergency that prevents me from leaving within my 90 days
Published 03/26/2008 05:19 PM | Updated 05/10/2010 11:49 AM |

I am visiting under the Visa Waiver Program, my I-94W is going to expire, but I can't leave as scheduled due to an emergency. How do I extend my stay?

If an emergency prevents you - if admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) - from departing the United States within your period of authorized stay, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) district director having jurisdiction over the place of your temporary stay may, at their discretion, grant a period of satisfactory departure not to exceed 30 days. If departure is accomplished during that period, you will be regarded as having satisfactorily accomplished the visit without overstaying the allotted time. Satisfactory departure is only granted for real emergencies, such as hospitalization, conditions that cause flights to be cancelled or delayed for more than 24 hours (i.e. weather, worker strikes, etc. etc.) Otherwise, people visiting under the VWP may not extend their period of stay beyond their initial 90 days.

If you are unable to go to a USCIS office to obtain satisfactory departure because your overstay is due to a weather-related emergency and you are staying close to the airport until boarding, we suggest you keep a copy of any evidence you have of the emergency situation in order to resolve any questions about the reason for your overstay the next time you come to the U.S. This could include cancelled tickets, a statement from an airline about flight cancellations, including newspaper or other reports of significant storms.




You can find the USCIS Field Office for wherever you are here: http://www.uscis.gov
If you are still mobile, I'd suggest you and partner attend.

I know it seems ridiculous, but this might be worth spending a couple hundred $$ to consult with an immigration lawyer locally (she may have a relationship in the district office).

The alternative I suppose, is to be OK with overstaying your VWP admission and not traveling visa-free to the US anymore.

ian-mstm

You came over on the VWP, but I understand what you mean.


Generally, you can not extend the VWP. You need to make the application prior to the expiry of the 90-days. Your partner is not the one having a child... so he may or may not get an extension.

Worst case scenario - you both overstay the VWP and thereafter can never use it again. For subsequent travel to the US, you'd both need a B-2 visa... which may or may not be granted since you will have already demonstrated your inability to abide by the rules. I know this isn't your fault and something over which you had little, if any, control... but that isn't the US government's problem.

Word of warning: if you haven't left the US within 180 days after the expiry of your current VW, you will incur a 3-year ban from the US the moment you leave. That may or may not be important to you at this point in time, but you should know about the possibility.

Hope the pregnancy goes well and the baby is healthy! Good luck.

ETA: The good news, is that your child will be a US citizen... and in 21 years can sponsor you for a Green Card.

Ian

meauxna

I'm not as sure as you about that ^^.. They would have medical records documenting what happened and the need to stay. IMO the Consulate would have & use latitude there. Not that either of us know for sure.

crg

I wish you well. It sounds like this problem won't be resolved within 30 days of the 90 day limit anyway so satisfactory departure may be of limited benefit to you.

May I ask what you're doing about medical bills? Be aware that if you overstay the VWP, you will no longer be eligible for visa-free travel.

If you avail yourself of means tested taxpayer funded medical care then you may have a difficult time getting a visa. That wide latitude can work against you. Be sure that they bill you for everything. They have an incentive to have you sign up for medicaid so they get paid but that can put you in a bad situation if you want to come back to the US.

meauxna

Glad you weighed in, crg.. I figured if anyone knew about this, you would.

To stay on track, the financials etc were covered in the last thread and the OPs have insurance coverage.

BILDER

OP, I don't know if you flew over here (N. America), but you weren't supposed to have flown after 28 weeks. <snipped>

You should be able to get some documentation from the attending, get that over to the local USCIS office and the District Director will have authority to extend the stay when on the VWP. The sooner the better.

What state are you in btw?

meauxna

Doctor BILDER, this is an example of when it is appropriate to read the (relatively few) previous posts the OP has made.

As a DOCTOR, I'm sure you can understand why I snipped my quote of your post; you (or I at your request) can edit your own post.

You can access a user's previous posts by clicking on their username and selecting the drop down option.

lisa67

I suggest you read her other thread. I can't believe how insensitive you have been in your first paragraph..... I'm sure the OP is fully aware of the risks she and her unborn baby face.... Probably more so now that you've sent her blood pressure soaring

BILDER

I know, I know. I do apologize. We are trained to say it like it is, but I definitely could have avoided saying it like that. I do apologize once again!

And regarding the previous posting that she made, I should have read that. Didn't know about the "previous posts by this user" button.
Both counts guilty as charged, though I still do not understand why she would have traveled so close to her pregnancy FT date. She flew out here at 28 weeks, but she must have known that when it was time to her to fly back she would be dangerously close to her FT date. Curious.

Anyway, this is neither here nor there. Guilty as charged on the 2 counts there regarding insensitivity and previous posts. Hopefully next time, I will get it right.

To the OP: You, and your growing family have my best wishes!

PS: I am trying to remove that post, but don't seem to be able to. I am a ignorant amateur at this.

crg

I've seen something similar, but it was a family of Canadian R-1/R-2 that had a few weeks left on their I-94, and were packing up to leave when they had a horrific car wreck. The wife needed about a year of hospitalization, surgeries, and rehab to depart and the spouse was also so injured he couldn't address the status issue in a timely manner. No change of status was filed. They ended up overstaying by more than six months (it could have even been a year). They were unable to come back as R-1 until they received an approved waiver, but they got one pretty quickly (quickly by waiver standards).

Like others have said, the documentation of the emergency can help the person convince the consular officer (or similar) that they should be granted a visa following the VWP overstay. It's important to note that all of the documentation in the world cannot wash away certain violations. The law doesn't allow for a qualitative or subjective evaluation of why it happened. It comes down to the dates on the calendar and simple math. The discretionary part comes in when they decide to issue a visa or a waiver or not.

Timing is everything on this one. CIS is limited by law to no more than a 30 day satisfactory departure period. Nothing after that will resurrect someone's ability to use the VWP.

If you seek the satisfactory departure, bring the evidence. They may be able to grant the same thing to the husband/partner based on your medical situation. If you still can't travel within the extra 30-days, there is nothing more they can do for you. You'd be subject to removal following the expiry of the extra 30 days. The government is unlikely to pursue a case like this, but in a worst case scenario, they could take a couple hours and write up a removal order with a 10-year bar and put the person on an order of supervision where they check in with ICE until they depart. I doubt a case like this would be a priority considering all of the willful violators out there and would bet a lot of money they'd opt not to pursue this type of thing.

If you truly had a medical emergency (and I believe you do), the overstay should not be hard to overcome. A consular office will likely issue a visa if you provide medical documentation, evidence that the US birth was not premeditated, and evidence that the insurance covered it.

Right now, concentrate on your health and on having a healthy baby. Let the people around you sort out the 90-day problem. God willing, I'll be back in the US for a birth myself within the next 60 days. It would be incredible if I run into you at the hospital nursery.

scrubbedexpat099

The issue more seems to be whether she or he will get deported, future possible visits are a minor matter and not currently of any consequence..

I can not see them either going around hospitals or deporting people in them against medical opinion. So we can rule that one out.

As far as the Husband is concerned, if he come to their attention he might well have problems as an overstayer. It is not as if that is likely in the the normal course of events. So keep his nose clean and he should be fine.

I was going to say there are no guarantees in life but you found that one out already.

Southsearocks

Hello to all and thanks for your replies. "She" is still reading

I don't need to justify myself but North America, airlines, and doctors don't have a problem with anyone travelling before 32 sweeks of pregnancy (I had a letter from my doctor to say there was no reason for me not to fly and I only had that because we were flying via Canada). I was only here for two weeks and was 27 wks when we arrived, so would have been flying back at 29 weeks (nearly 3 months before the due date). This is actually common in this day and age when women continue to work and travel for business.

BILDER - you need to work on your bedside manner and get your facts straight before dishing out advice like that to people. You are clearly not working in obstetrics or you would know that the survival rate for 28 week old babies is actually around 95%. As a nurse myself I know how important it is to give the right information to patients, not instill fear into them unecessarily. Being straight with people is one thing....

Thanks for all your helpful replies. I think the best thing we could do is go down to the immigration dept in Philly and get it sorted there. Or at least my partner may have to go. I so hope they will let him stay too but he needs to be able to return here for business and family so I don't want him to jeopardise that.

I don't know if anyone has see the film Brazil, but the bureaucracy reminds me a lot of that!

Thanks again

scrubbedexpat099

Wow

Was that a record.

ian-mstm

I think Meauxna needs to switch to decaf! She was definitely on a roll this morning!

Ian