navman

My mother is here in the US staying with me on a Visa Waiver. She arrived on 18th Dec, she is due to depart the US on 16th March (7pm PST flight)

I checked her I-94 Admissions record this morning to validate compliance and it states the following as per below:

Your authorized period of stay in the United States expires on 3/16/2020 (mm/dd/yyyy). Our records show you have 11 days to depart the United States. The days remaining in the United States are the days you have left on your admission period. This number is calculated from the day of the query until the last day of your admission period. You must depart the United States, unless you have a pending or approved petition that allows you to remain, by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the last day of your admission.

I wanted to double check and confirm compliance of her admission on I-94 As I understand it she is good to depart on 3/16 but cannot stay any longer. Is that correct?

christmasoompa

Yes but that's cutting it mighty fine - a 5 hour delay and she can never use the VWP again! Personally I'd see if she can change to a flight a day or two before to allow for any delays or issues.

navman

As I thought, thank you for confirming. Fingers crossed the flight is not canceled or delayed.

MidAtlantic

Why are you doubting the official notice?

I agree with Christmasoompa. I would never leave it that close to the deadline. There's not just the risk of a flight delay but also any hold up on the way to the airport etc.

navman

Not doubting, wanted to double check make sure I interpreted it correctly. CBP now send you an email advising how many days you have left.

christmasoompa

Could you not change it to a couple of days before? The worrier in me is stressing on your mother's behalf!

SanDiegogirl

With flights being cancelled daily due to coronovirus, and others being rescheduled, I'd check with your airline that the flight is still on schedule.

Boiler

Some people are more risk tolerant. Perhaps she has no plans to come back to the US and it really does not matter.

petitefrancaise

many airlines are now offering free flight changes for flights booked from here on to the end of 2020. Yesterday, I saw an FB post on United's page where someone was complaining they were only offering it for new flight bookings and she had already made hers. They responded that she should contact them and they would see if they could accommodate her.
I'd contact the airline and change it to the day or days before.... and since you say the flight is PST then I'd mention that she is older and you want to get her home before the coronavirus affects her.

Pulaski

I agree with the advice above, to change the flight. I would recommend moving it by at least a couple of days as there are numerous reasons that a flight could be delayed, or your mother miss her flight - traffic, congestion, and accident, or a breakdown heading to the airport, your mother suffering an injury or medical condition, mechanical issues with the plane, weather, or disruptions due to something more dramatic, such as a volcano or another "9/11" - both the last two have occurred within the past 20 years.

And to be explicitly clear, there are absolutely no excuses accepted for not leaving within 90 days of arrival - if you leave late, no matter how "good" your excuse, you can never use the VWP again. And it is also far from certain that your mother could get a visa any time soon - over staying your time allowed in the US is a significant factor in being denied a visa.

tht

I recall one time they offered the possibility of an extension related to a natural disaster ... but in general the OP would be wise to change the flight and not risk it.

“Special Update as of March 11: Relief for Japanese and Other Nationals from the Pacific Stranded due to the Earthquakes and TsunamiThis advisory is for Japanese and other foreign nationals from the Pacific stranded in the United States due to the earthquakes and tsunami devastation. If you have exceeded or are about to exceed your authorized stay in the U.S. you may be permitted up to an additional 30 days to depart.

Visitors traveling under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP):

• If you are at an airport, contact the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office at the airport
• All others, please visit the local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office”

https://www.uscis.gov/archive/archiv...es-and-tsunami

Pulaski

Thank you, that's interesting, but AFAIK there was no such allowance made when a volcano in Iceland disrupted North Atlantic air travel.
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tht

right, I think the reason they made the allowance was less the lack of ability to travel and more the optics of sending people in to a nuclear disaster zone...

with the possibility of being quarantined for 14+ days I would think it wise for VW visitors to maybe stay a max of 60 days to be safe under the current situation.

materialcontroller

Just thinking about time zones, how does a 7pm (PST) departure fit in with the fact that she must leave before 11.59pm (EST)?

Boiler

2 hour difference net, just makes it close. But theoretically doable.