Return flight (through US) after vwp 90 days expiry???

Chumpski · 19-10-2009 2:46pm #1

I am going travelling for 4 months approximately to North America. My plan is to fly to Chicago, spend 2 months in the US, then head into Mexico overland through California or maybe Arizona. Then i will be flying home again 2 months later from either Merida or Cancun. The flight home may be indirect with a stopover in a US city such as Washington DC or New York.

I have a visa question that i hope somebody here can answer.

As an Irish citizen, we get a 90 free visa for holidays to the US. So we are fine for our initial 2 months of the holiday. On our flight home 1 month after our 3 month US visa is up, will we be allowed to fly back to london/ireland indirectly via a US city? (We are doing it this way as flights are much cheaper than flying direct to London from Cancun)

By the way, i did read the entire ESTA sticky thread, very helpful and thanks to all those posts for the information but it did not answer my question

so that explains yet another thread on US visas, sorry.

lynchie · 19-10-2009 3:00pm

I would suggest handing back your i94w when crossing into Mexico for the two month stay then filling out a new one when taking the flight from mexico via the US on the way home.

Chumpski · 19-10-2009 3:20pm

lynchie wrote: »

I would suggest handing back your i94w when crossing into Mexico for the two month stay then filling out a new one when taking the flight from mexico via the US on the way home.

Yeah that makes sense. I will double check that on the US embassy site. I tried ringing them earlier but they have automated answering machines only and they refer you to the website alot which is fair enough in most cases. Thanks.

steve-o · 19-10-2009 3:57pm

There's no visa involved. As you enter the US they stamp your passport and staple a green I94W stub into your passport which is then removed as you leave the US. You can't keep it for another visit. But, sometimes they forget to take it, so make sure they remove it at the border post as you exit. Returning to the US is a new trip with a new stamp and a new I94W.

lynchie · 19-10-2009 8:17pm

steve-o wrote: »

There's no visa involved. As you enter the US they stamp your passport and staple a green I94W stub into your passport which is then removed as you leave the US. You can't keep it for another visit. But, sometimes they forget to take it, so make sure they remove it at the border post as you exit. Returning to the US is a new trip with a new stamp and a new I94W.

But by leaving the country via a land border you never actually go through a CBP checkpoint, only when entering the country. So its up to you to hand it back in on the US side before driving into Mexico / Canada. When you leave via an Airport they will always take it off you.

Chumpski · 20-10-2009 8:11am

Thanks,

I think i may need a visa for the trip im planning according to the link http://www.immihelp.com/visas/visawaiverprogram/restrictions.html and heading "No Frequest Visits". Seems like North America is all counted under the 90 days. Plus a person at the border could stop you reentering the US if he/she thinks that you are entering too frequently.

The best bet for my planned trip seems to be to apply for a longer term visa for tourist purposes.

Return flight (through US) after vwp 90 days expiry???

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