tombass

Hi I am new to this forum and have a question about the visa waiver program.

I want to travel to the U.S.A. for xmas and spent it with my girlfriend before returning home to start work on january 8th. Normally i would see no problem in doing this and would not worry but i was recently in the U.S.A. for two months until last thursday.

I think you know where this is going, it is only my second trip since 2000 and I have every intention of returning as I have a job back here.

Any advice.

Thank you
Tom

Noorah101

What is your question?

Rene

tombass

will i be allowed in?

Noorah101

Ah, good question. The only way to know for sure is to make the trip. It will be up to the POE officer on duty that day to make the final decision.

Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing ahead of time. As you seem to be aware, your next visit could go either way. You won't have been outside the USA for very long in between trips...but then again you don't visit the USA very often.

So basically, no one can give you an answer until you arrive at the POE.

Rene

usanewlife

Hi Tom, I agree with Rene that there is no way of knowing at POE. I am assuming you have a current ESTA. I have travelled extensively to the USA over the last 7 years via the VWP and some of those visits were almost back to back. I was only ever asked once why I had returned so soon after my last trip. If it would help, you may wish to have your contract of employment with you to show your commitments in the UK, although this is not a guarantee for entry. You may get asked many questions about your commitments at home. Hope this helps

tombass

Thanks guys, I wish the embassy would just say yes or no.

Noorah101

The embassy? Aren't you traveling on the VWP? The embassy is not involved in approving VWP travel at all.

Rene

Lissbovavd

Tom,

I presume that you are a UK citizen and that your girlfriend is a US citizen.
Please, correct me if my interpretation is wrong, but should this be the case, I can only concur with the previous answers on this thread.
There is, unfortunately, no way at all to know on beforehand whether you shall be granted entry or not. This is a matter completely in the hands of the individual CBP officer which you shall be encountering at the US Port of Entry.

Should you have a US Citizen girlfriend, which I presume is likely the case here, then that in itself does, regrettably, complicate matters somewhat.
If you were travelling to the US without a romantic interest in mind, I very much doubt that you would have much of a problem getting past the POE.

However, visiting a US girlfriend is always a rather tricky thing (as I know myself...).
In the eyes of the CBP officers you are pretty likely to be seen as a possible candidate to overstay your allotted time span in the US, just because of the perceived temptation to remain with your US Citizen girlfriend.
In that sense, the CBP agents are always the "enemies" of a transatlantic romance
So, bring with you as much proof of your connections to the UK as you possibly can think of, but don´t show it to the CBP agent at the POE unless the situation arises and the question of your ties to the UK is being questioned by the CBP officer.
With the risk of sounding a bit like the proverbial parrot, you may perhaps consider travelling from Dublin or Shannon International Airports in the Republic of Ireland, which offer pre-clearance immigration facilities (and in some cases also pre-clearance customs facilities) on Irish soil before you actually board the US-bound aircraft.

All the best of luck!

tombass

Well I called the embassy just to see if they could give me an inidctaion but they could not, they just said take evidence of your ties to home. Actually come to think of it when i got to Chicago in september i got taken aside into the holding room and waited for an hour before being released to make my connecting flight which i missed. The POE officer asked my things like how can you support yourself for 7 weeks without work, explaining to him that being on a cruise ship for 8 months and saving up did not work even though that is the truth. There might be a possibility she could come here but it seems fligths are cheaper to the states than to england on the whole. This time i was just going to say the whole truth to them that i was here to spend xmas with my girlfriend because I am going away to work for 4 months in january and wont see her for all that time.

tombass

Thanks for the advice, i guess dublin is an option but i have read up on the love interest posts on here before and it seems complicated. If i go I am going to be truthful but not say too much apart from i am going back to work.

meauxna

You didn't remember being taken to Secondary until just now?

Don't be cheap; treat her to the holidays in the UK?
Frankly, you've only been away a week. IMO, you're pushing it.

ian-mstm

Sadly, you proceed from a false assumption. You've assumed that the officers will let you in unless they think there's a problem... in truth, the officers are there to keep you out unless you demonstrate that you should be allowed in.

Ian

md95065

Well they let you in didn't they? So, apparently, it did work (although, of course, that doesn't mean that it is going to work next time ...)

alan280170

I use the VWP, as I have a home or holiday home if you want to call it, but I have the luxury of having 6 months off the year, I come and go many times in a year. I have only once been taken to the holding tank or whatever the real name is, had an interview, explained my situation and they had no problem with it.

They even ask where I stay and I tell them my house, if you take your UK drivers licence, thats one piece of proof (that's all they have ever asked me for), but if you get payed in the UK might be worth taking your most recent pay statement.

I don't ever volunteer info any more as it can cause hassle (girlfriend visiting being the worst for me, although I was also visiting my brother but that's a different story), although I don't lie to them either.

Other thing they normally ask is how much cash you are carrying, if it's not alot, explain you have Credit cards/you are going to use ATM etc.

Hope all goes well, I'm sure it will, also depends where you clear customs in the US IMHO.

Alan

scrubbedexpat099

Having been to Secondary on the VWP, I am also slightly gobsmacked how it would slip your mind....