Maximum number of US visits per year?

Bacon_Lover

Hi guys!

I need some advice!

I am dating someone who is living in California. We met in Dublin, and he has now moved back to the US, and doing the long distance relationship thing until we can figure out logistics!

I have already been in CA twice this year, with 2 more trips booked. The length varies from 4 days to 10 days at a time.

I have 2 questions:

1) Is there a max number of times that I can enter the US in any given year?
2) Do you think I should be honest at customs if I say I am visiting my boyfriend? I have a bad feeling (from watching too many border control shows!) that this will be seen negatively in a "she will stay past her visa" kind of way. So far, I have just said I was visiting friends, without the specifics.

I'm hoping you can help!

Thank you!

athtrasna

It all depends on the Immigration people you meet, some might consider 4-6 in a year to be the max without questioning further, some might not.

In your favour is the length of your stay and having flights booked well in advance. If you had numerous longer stays (several weeks) with short breaks between them then you could be on dodgy ground.

silja

1. No. There is a maximum time- you need to be outside the USA more than inside- but even that can be waived if you get a immigration officer on a good day.
2. Never lie to immigration, but never volunteer more info than needed. Definitely always call him a boyfriend, rather than fiance (which may imply you want to illegally use the VWP to marry him and stay). Saying you will visit friends is fine, because you are, or go to Disney Land, or check out the vinyards... whatever you have planned. But if they asked "anyone special?" or something like that, be honest.

I used to do the LDR thing, and go for long weekends/ a week at the most. I once got pulled into secondary on my 5th trip in a year, lugage gone through, asked lots of questions. They were nice enough, but definitely an interogation; in the end, they let me enter, but rather than the usual 90 days only gave me a day more than my return date flight (in case of flight delays). Next time I went, only a short while later, I brought a ton of "proof of return"- bills, letter from employer when I was expected back etc. hey just waived me through....

iusedtoknow

my brother was involved in a long distance relationship with an american, he was told by an immigration guy that he was doing the right thing by always being out of the USA for at least the same amount of time that he was in - so going for 3 months, staying out for a week and then coming back would be taking the piss.

He would go for 2 weeks, then stay out for 2 months, then back for a week . It showed that he didn't have a life set up in the US, and was "tied" to Ireland.

athtrasna

iusedtoknow wrote: »

my brother was involved in a long distance relationship with an american, he was told by an immigration guy that he was doing the right thing by always being out of the USA for at least the same amount of time that he was in - so going for 3 months, staying out for a week and then coming back would be taking the piss.

He would go for 2 weeks, then stay out for 2 months, then back for a week . It showed that he didn't have a life set up in the US, and was "tied" to Ireland.

Yeah - the author of Eat, Pray, Love wrote her second book (Committed) based on her experience. Her non-US partner used to come in for 90 days and leave for a week or two and then come back. Got stopped on one occasion when he flew into Texas and refused entry for abuse of immigration procedures. I must admit I didn't finish the book but basically they went travelling for a year while they sorted out a wedding and a proper visa.

ProudDUB

OP, unlike Ireland, the average American only gets 10 days holiday time a year. Unless you are a student or self employed, don't be surprised if you ever get questioned as to why you have all this free time to be constantly visiting the US.

WilyCoyote

Short bursts every few months are OK. But remember the US immigration officials take their roles very seriously. They will know if you're lying.

Bacon_Lover

Thank you for the replies.

I dont plan on lying! And the reason I can go so often is that I am saving up all my 24 vacation days + integration with Bank Holidays to get over as much as I can. So hopefully if I remain open, show that I always have a return flight, I should be okay, I would never be staying more than a week anyway.

Thank you guys, very helpful.

Stinicker

ProudDUB wrote: »

OP, unlike Ireland, the average American only gets 10 days holiday time a year. Unless you are a student or self employed, don't be surprised if you ever get questioned as to why you have all this free time to be constantly visiting the US.

Totally agreed, and If you are unemployed they expect you to be living in a cardboard box, I got an awful interrogation over that a few years back and I got a visa afterwards for my most recent trip to the United States and then I got waived through no problems, alot depends on the officer at the day but always tell the truth, never tell them more than they need and be polite and it should be okay.

[Jackass]

I lived in Toronto for a while and had a 1 year visa there but was seeing someone in the US and I had a rolling visitor visa for the US that I just renewed every 3 months, I spent about as much time in the US as I did in Canada.

As long as you have a reason to be there and a reason to go home, they are fine. There's no maximum time, but I used to cross the border on a weekly basis back and forth.

Even when my Canadian visa was about to expire I got a new 3 month visa to the USA and stayed on for about 8 weeks before we moved back here together.

If you have return flights booked you'll be grand.

Also, re your logistics of relationship, a permanent US visa is virtually impossible to get, but Ireland has a DeFacto visa that your boyfriend can easily get to legally live and work here as long as you can prove you have been in a relationship for 2 years or more.

Best of luck!

matt-dublin

You'll need to watch out OP as they may consider you an immigration risk if you let them know you're dating someone over there.

If they suspect at all your looking to get a green card via marriage you will have terrible difficulty

iusedtoknow

matt-dublin wrote: »

You'll need to watch out OP as they may consider you an immigration risk if you let them know you're dating someone over there.

If they suspect at all your looking to get a green card via marriage you will have terrible difficulty

This really isn't true. The worst thing you can do is lie. For instance...if they ask you the question "who are you visiting" and you answer "a friend", the odds are the next question they ask you will be "how do you know this friend". You are then forced into saying boy/girlfriend, which puts on the defensive. The general rule with CBP is to answer the question that is asked truthfully, not to offer any more information than is asked.

If your visit records indicate that you really are just visiting for a short space of time every few, they will have no issues with you having a boyfriend/girlfriend waiting for you at arrivals. And as someone above said, they aren't dumb and they take their jobs very seriously.