Job Discussion Forums

[teagemini]

I would be grateful if anyone can help me over my visa query as I've had several different answers to this and I'm a total newbie.

I'm a UK citizen currently in the US on a visa waiver (my sister lives there and is a US citizen) and I've decided to do a TEFL and work placement in June in Mexico. My visa waiver runs out on the 20 Jul. I've been told that 1/ even if I go to Mexico, my visa waiver will still be taken into account and if it runs out then I won't be allowed back into the US. I've also been told that 2/ when I leave the US, to hand in my visa waiver and after I finish the TEFL and my work placement, I can just fly into the US and get another visa waiver since I'm a UK citizen.

I've read some of the visa postings but can't see any similar to this. Please can anyone tell me the actual position? I need to go back into the US to pick up the rest of my belongings which I'm leaving with my sister and would like to stay with her and her family a couple of weeks before flying back to the UK.

Any info much appreciated....

[thelmadatter]

Im no expert but in general, expiration dates on any kind of visa paperwork (minus entry forms) are solid. If you spend time outside of the US, I really doubt they will extend your waiver.

Best bet, however, is the contact the nearest INS office (if youre in the States) or embassy/consulate (if outside the US).

[teagemini]

hi I was told if I hand in my visa waiver to prove I've left the US and get a mexican tourist visa when I get to Mexico, I will be okay to come back to the US on a new visa waiver in the future when I leave Mexico. I did email the US immigration (the UK Embassy in the US as well) and they emailed me back asking me to call a phone number (expensive too). I'd rather not be giving my personal information out to immigration - you just never know!

[grahamcito]

Hi there,

I�m a fellow Brit, so I empathise with your confusion!

Basically, number /2 is right and number /1 is wrong.

When you leave the US, you�re required to hand in the Visa Waiver (that little green card), normally at the check-in desk for your flight out.

This handing in is rarely conducted rigorously - even if you forget or don�t do it for whatever reason, you normally just walk onto your flight.

(The US Dept of Homeland Security is increasingly monitoring/processing the exiting of non-US nationals from US airports. Depending on where you fly from, you might be asked for the card by a DHS official - and they might not be pleased to see an out of date visa waiver. Your name would probably go on a watchlist on a DHS database somewhere... But like I said, most times this isn�t done rigorously.)

In theory, not handing in the card could complicate things if you re-enter the US - the visa waiver system might think you�re on two visa waivers at the same time. In practice, the system for monitoring visa waivers isn�t very sophisticated and it just doesn�t matter; you should be granted a new visa waiver without any problems. (This is the situation at the moment, at least.)

Importantly, you can enter the US on the visa waiver program regardless of what you were doing in Mexico, ie whether you have a Mexican tourist card or not. If the Dept of Homeland Security denies you a visa waiver, it�ll be because they�re suspicious of your reasons for being in the US. (Possibly including if you stayed in the US beyond the duration of a previous visa waiver...)

Hope this helps.

[cwc]

[aroha]

Hiya, I choose option number 1.

I tried to buy a one-way ticket from New Zealand to Mexico, on the basis that I was planning to live in Mexico for at least a year or so. I hit two obstacles. First, the airline wouldn't sell me a one-way ticket because I didnt have Mexican residency. Second, the airline told me I had to get a B1/B2 visa from the United States because I was transiting through Los Angeles for 5 hours on the Visa Waiver. They told me that otherwise I would run a high risk of not being allowed to transit through the USA on my return flight home.

The USA's 90 day visa waiver applies to Canada and Mexico because of the land border...

[grahamcito]

[aroha]

I'm sorry grahamcito, I wasn't very clear. I should have said: I wanted to travel through Los Angeles on the Visa Waiver, which I've done a couple of times before. However, I was informed by the airline that I should not enter on the Visa Waiver Program because I was planning to spend more than 90 days in one of the countries with a land border with the USA. This was confirmed by the US Consulate in Auckland, who told me that I therefore had to apply for a B1/B2 visa.

The US Customs and Border Patrol website says...

Q: Can a VWP applicant for Admission Be Readmitted To the United States Follwing a Short Trip To an Adjacent Island, Canada, or Mexico?
A:
- Generally, VWP applicants admitted under the VWP may be readmitted to the United States after a departure to Canada or Mexico or adjacent islands for the balance of their original admission period. This is provided they are otherwise admissible and meet all the conditions of the VWP, with the exception of arrival on a signatory carrier, in which case the inspecting officers have the discretion to grant the applicants entirely new periods of admission.
- The VWP applicant is admissible and may be readmitted to the United States under the VWP after a departure to Canada or Mexico or adjacent islands provided the person:

A) Can identify an authorized period of admission that has not expired,
B) Plans to depart the United States prior to the expiration date of their period of admission,
C) Presents valid, unexpired passports which reflect admission to the United States under the VWP, and
D) Continues to meet all criteria set forth in 8 CFR 217 and section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act), with the exception of arrival on a signatory carrier.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/vwp/vwp.xml

I didnt mean to infer that the Visa Waiver Program applies to Mexican or Canadian citizens. Rather, that the 90 day admission period of the Visa Waiver Program applies to trips from the USA into Mexico or Canada, and then back into the USA.

There is one thing that might support grahamcito's point of view iin the statement above:
....with the exception of arrival on a signatory carrier, in which case the inspecting officers have the discretion to grant the applicants entirely new periods of admission...

I dont know which airlines are a "signatory carrier"... I guess the Mexicana airline wasn't a signatory carrier when I made my travel plans?

Playing it safe, check with your local US embassy or consulate to get the most recent visa requirements.

[grahamcito]

OK, think I�ve got it now! I hadn�t caught the US -> short visit to Mx/Can -> US angle.

Sounds like it�s fine if you return to the US before your visa waiver expires: either it continues or you get a new one. But if it has expired, I�d be surprised to hear somebody wasn�t simply issued a new visa waiver (assuming they�re moving on from the US and have the ticket to prove it).

The thing that has me scratching my head now is this B1/B2 visa. You�re passing through in transit ... for only a few hours ... your nationality qualifies you for a visa waiver ... why the need for a visa? Sounds like gratuitous bureaucracy...

[carde]

I had exactly the same problem. Technically you have to leave north america within 90 days of entering the US unless you're a citizen of canada or mex. I just looked around on the internet and found a cheap flight df to Costa Rica return so I left north america and came back to mex without going through the states. It seems a bit excessive but hey I got a week in costa rica out of it!