Scotty Does

Hello expats,

Forgive me if this issue has already been discussed, but can anyone tell me about the Visa Waiver Program? The Information I have seen is not very clear.

I'm Scottish, and I work internationally. On my time off, I want to visit my girlfriend in New York.
I have no intention of working in the USA for now.

Does the '90 day' limit on the Visa Waiver Program cover me for these trips to NY. Is that 90 days limit, 'per trip', or per year, or per lifetime? I can't find anything on line which explicitly says so one way or the other.

I don't want to get in a pickle! Please help!

Bob

Welcome to BE!

Read the wiki, read threads in the immigration forums, you'll get a much better understanding of things.

The VWP is meant for people who are eligible to travel to the US for a holiday or for work conferences without the need for a visa. It's for a maximum of 90 days per visit.

Rule of thumb is spend at least the same amount of time out of the US as the visa allows, as you don't want a pattern to appear that you are using the VWP to live in the US, because that will course you problems.

Scotty Does

OK,
cheers Bob, so it is 'per visit' then?
That's good, as I work 3 months away anyway, & I only get 6 weeks leave, so I think that will be a pretty reasonable pattern, eh?

I'll read the wiki. Ta.

ian-mstm

Yes.


Seems to be!

Ian

Scotty Does

Very Good.
And, The wiki is very clear. Thank you.

It just seems to be, that I have to be extremely polite to the Immigration man at the airport. No more boozey flights then. lol

Noorah101

Although, you don't want to be developing a pattern, really. If you do 90 days in, 90 days out, too many times in a row, you will get closer to a time when the POE officer denies you entry.

Rene

fatbrit

Which is probably twice as much as the guy stamping your passport.

tinman0

Used WVP for more than a few years and never really had a problem. Was taking anything between 4-8 weeks in the US each time, probably 4 times a year.

USCIS DID NOT LIKE IT. However, they did let me through.

Establishing a pattern is not a bad thing, and they are pretty lenient as long as you are honest and can show that you always leave when you say you will. And you will get detained on occasion (like I did). But they were always polite, professional and quite happy to hear what you have to say. In my case they weren't buddy buddy friendly, but they were always fairly accommodating and were happy to listen. I would say the agents who interview you at the detention area are friendlier than the guys on the immigration arrival desks.

A pattern shows that you do have employment and that you do need to leave again. You're not the first person to have a US girlfriend at the end of the day.

Another issue is that when/if you finally apply to live in the US, you must have met your significant other several times to show you have a valid relationship - so they can hardly deny you entry to see them and then complain at a later date that you didn't spend time together.

As I say, expect to be interviewed a few times, but take it in your stride and have fun being interviewed.

They will get picky if/when you get married and you land again. I still didn't have my visa sorted at that point - and they still let me in for a 90 day stay, which shows the agents have a huge amount of discretion.

I still remember the final question:

"Mr Tinman, you've spent 12 months of the last 15 months in the US on a tourist visa - would you say you are living in the US?"

They let me in that final time for 90 days (and only just married to Mrs Tinman).

Anyway, good luck with everything!

Noorah101

This is not true. For the K-1 fiance visa, the requirement is only to have met once in person within the most recent 2 years. Not multiple times. For an Immigrant Visa, they obviously have met in person so they could get married; beyond that it doesn't matter how much time they've spent together.

Rene

tinman0

I've no doubt that you can only meet once. But my point was that USCIS are not against people having overseas relationships, and will not throw a spanner in the works just for the fun of it.

However, from all the people I've met in person along this journey (as apposed to online), meeting once (or even twice) and getting married to a USC does not guarantee that they will give you a visa.

Bob

USCIS is perfectly happy with the US citizen going abroad to meet you though....and the met once is more to accommodate arranged marriages etc.

Also 4-8 weeks is quite a range, it's not using the whole 90 days, which when used for multiple trips would certainly give the impression that one is using it to live rather than visit the US and also not to many people can afford to live without work for that amount of time and they're probably more interested in unauthorised work.

Scotty Does

Thank you everyone.

It is reassuring to know that others have gone through this before, and survived. It is quite likely that I'll be able to mix it up so the pattern is irregular. Hopefully the mrs' will be able to come back to Edinburgh for a few months as well.

I am pretty lucky to work in the Merchant Navy. Our time off is really our time off, and they pay for our flights all over. It's a unique occupation.

I guess it just means though, that I should avoid working on ships in the USA, Canada & Mexico, if possible, in order to keep my number of visits low. Although, that would be on my C1-D Visa anyway.

It's nice to hear that just because you don't fit an exact pattern, they will detain you & actually listen to your reasons, before booting you out. I guess I should keep an exact record of all my travel dates and stuff handy when I go through the airport. Just incase.

I'm curious btw. When they asked you "Mr Tinman, you've spent 12 months of the last 15 months in the US on a tourist visa - would you say you are living in the US?"
What did you reply!?!?!?!

Noorah101

Correct, there is never a guarantee of getting a visa. However, all else being admissable, having met only once (or twice) will not mean a visa denial.

Rene

Noorah101

You should keep track anyway, because if you ever do a US Visa application to immigrate, and then want to become a USC later, you will need to list all these visits.

Think about it. A tourist is not allowed to live in the USA. So what would the answer be?

Rene

Scotty Does

In an entertaining world, the answer would of course be
"maybe yes, maybe no, officer. (wry smile), And slip $5 and a half eaten airport sandwich across the desk to sweeten his mood".

I wish airports were more fun.