Authoress

Hi
What Visa should I apply for?
I want to spend longer than 90 days a year in the states, and be able to come and go as I please. I will retain my principal residence in the UK. I'd like to spend the winters in Florida. I'm not planning a buying a property there immediately, but may do so in the future. I am not looking for employment immediately either, and may never do.

All the information I've read in this forum, though very useful, seems geared at Brits seeking to work in US; I just want to be able to go in and out of the country, without any hassle, longer than the 90 day visa waiver requirement.

What visa should I get, and how do i go about getting it?
Thanks

materialcontroller

Unfortunately it might not be possible to find a suitable visa to achieve these aims. If you haven't already done so, look at this document to see what the options are: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

Authoress

hi materialcontroller.
Thanks for your quick reply. What do all the UK nationals do who are retired and living half of the year in Florida?
Thanks

materialcontroller

Retired people (snowbirds) are more than likely visiting the USA on B2 visas. If you are retired, you stand a much better chance of getting a B2. Most younger people are refused. How old are you (if that's not a rude question)?

Authoress

I'll be 52 next month ):
I AM retired in the sense I have no full time job. I have sufficient income that i do not need to work.

Authoress

Is it hard to get a B2, or is it just routine? How do I go about it?

materialcontroller

It's fairly easy to apply for a B2. Just follow the instructions on the US Embassy website: http://london.usembassy.gov/b2.html

In very general terms, the more difficult part is getting the visa approved for citizens of the UK who are able to use the VWP for 90 day visits. Being retired, affluent and having strong ties to the UK such as property and family (ensuring you will return home after each visit) might go some way towards helping your case. However it's impossible to predict the outcome of an application with any certainty. Be aware that if you apply for a B2 and get denied, it may make ESTA authorisation and use of the VWP difficult if not impossible for a period of time afterwards (you would need to declare the visa denial on the ESTA application).

Other factors for you to consider when intending to over-winter in the USA are health insurance and the possibility of falling within the IRS substantial presence measures and thereby being liable for filing US tax returns. You can search this forum for other discussions relating to those issues.

Authoress

I don't know any reason (like a criminal record, or anything untoward)why I'd be a denied a B2. How often are people turned down? I'd hate to be denied a B2 and then told I can't go to the states on the VWP.

Is it possible to apply for a B2, or to have my right to stay extended beyond 90 days in some other way, once I'm already in the states, or is that a bad idea?

materialcontroller

Again, generally speaking, a lot of B2 applications in London are refused because UK citizens can use the VWP and 90 days is considered a sufficient amount of time for the purposes of most visits. If you go ahead and apply for a B2 it's impossible to say what your chances of success will be.

At the risk of sounding blunt, you don't have the right to stay for any period of time in the USA. You are also not able to apply for a B2 visa while inside the USA or to extend the duration of a VWP admission (as far as I know).

Authoress

thanks for that; i did not think it was possible to extend the visa once in the states.

I seems like a catch 22. At the moment i am perfectly able to travel to the states for up to 90 days, but if i apply for a b2 so i can stay longer and am turned down, i could effectively lose the 90 days under the VWP.

What is the downside if i simply stay in the US for example, 120 days, before i come back to UK?

cheers

materialcontroller

You will become ineligible to use the VWP in future and may possibly incur a total ban on entering the USA for a period of time. This recent thread discussed the implications of overstaying a VWP visit:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=757929

Authoress

thanks again.
How long can i stay in the US with a b2?

It looks like I have no other option than to apply for a b2, and hope for the best?

ian-mstm

Respectfully, only a US citizen can "come and go as I please". Everyone else - with or without visa - has restrictions.


Usually, a B-2 visa admission is 6 months.


Actually, you do have an option... although you don't want to follow that route! It also bears mentioning that at your B-2 interview, the officer is not required to look at any documentation you bring which might prove you're retired, have sufficient funds, and have strong ties to the UK. What's your risk tolerance for failure?

Ian

materialcontroller

I was admitted for 6 months on my B2 and this seems to be the most common duration from what I've heard. Although you could be granted more (I think up to 12 months) or less (as little as 1 day) depending on what you tell the CBP officer at the POE and how that individual views your particular circumstances.

If you really are set on applying for a B2 may I suggest that you prepare as much evidence to help your case as possible. This could include proving your income and savings, deeds to property you own in the UK, any business or work you carry out in the UK or anything you feel might support your status as a "retiree".

The most important factors to prove are that you are financially self-sufficient as well as having plenty of ties in the UK such that you will return there rather than remaining in the USA. It is important to remember that you aren't intending to "live" in Florida, merely to "visit" for an extended period of time. You have to show that your permanent residence will remain in the UK.

Although as Ian has just posted, the con-off at the embassy may choose not to examine any documentary evidence whatsoever. So you should be prepared for the consequences of a visa denial if it happens.

Authoress

ian-mstm, I'm not sure i have any risk tolerance for failure at all. So I need an interview. Even if I bring documents to the interview, but it is possible the interviewing officer won't even look at them?
materialcontroller, i'm only "set" on applying for a b2 because i'm not aware of any other way to be able to legally stay more than 90 days; i do not think i am prepared for the consequences of denial, because i'm not sure what they are.

This is all making me very nervous; going to an interview knowing that a denied B2 might make me ineligible for the VWP is a terrible prospect.

With these limited options, I think i should perhaps limit my next stay to 90 days.