How long in America??

[Disneydolly]

Is there time limit on how long you can actually stay in the United States for on a long holiday??

We stayed for 28 nights over Easter 2008. We are planning another WDW trip at either Easter 2010 or sometime in the summer holidays 2010.

My husband has been away for most of this year working and has taken very little leave - so has a very generous annual leave allowance to take (they have said they will let him carry it over to 2010). I am currently not in employment so we could actually go away for upto 5 weeks this time (in theory of the sums add up).

As long as we have proof of finances and booked return flights - is there any problem with staying that long in the US???

We are considering a stopover in New York on the way there or home.

Any tips, info, advice very gratefully received.

 

[nobodies36]

90 days is the limit if you are using the visa waiver programme.

 

[Disneydolly]

Cool! Thank you for replying so quickly!

How brill to have 90 days there!! I dont think my hubby has quite that much leave though!!

 

[Ann B]

90 days is the limit if you are using the visa waiver programme.

Yes it is 90 days, but not 90 days at a time - 90 days in any year I think!
Don't think that I will ever have to worry about this unless my lottery ticket comes in!!
Ann

 

[wayneg]

Yes it is 90 days, but not 90 days at a time - 90 days in any year I think!
Don't think that I will ever have to worry about this unless my lottery ticket comes in!!
Ann

This is incorrect.
You can in theory stay in US for 90 days take a flight back to UK and back again following day for another 90 days. In theory this is possible, in reality the immigration officer will probably take you for further questioning.
You have to actually leave the continent to do this, certainly not possible to just goto Canada, Mexico etc, see below.

From CBP site

Is there a limit to how many times I can enter the U.S. on the VWP? Must there be a minimum period between one period of travel on the VWP and the next?
No, but entry or re-entry into the United States is at the discretion of immigration officials at the port of entry.

If I travel to Canada or Mexico, can I re-enter the U.S on the VWP, and if so does the 90 days then start again?
VWP travelers who have been admitted to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program and who make a short trip to Canada, Mexico or an adjacent island generally can be readmitted to the U.S. under the VWP for the original admission period. They do not, however, get a new 90 day admission period.

 

[Ann B]

This is incorrect.
You can in theory stay in US for 90 days take a flight back to UK and back again following day for another 90 days. In theory this is possible, in reality the immigration officer will probably take you for further questioning.
You have to actually leave the continent to do this, certainly not possible to just goto Canada, Mexico etc, see below.

From CBP site

Is there a limit to how many times I can enter the U.S. on the VWP? Must there be a minimum period between one period of travel on the VWP and the next?
No, but entry or re-entry into the United States is at the discretion of immigration officials at the port of entry.

If I travel to Canada or Mexico, can I re-enter the U.S on the VWP, and if so does the 90 days then start again?
VWP travelers who have been admitted to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program and who make a short trip to Canada, Mexico or an adjacent island generally can be readmitted to the U.S. under the VWP for the original admission period. They do not, however, get a new 90 day admission period.

OOpps!!
I stand corrected!

 

[wayneg]

OOpps!!
I stand corrected!

We just all need that big lottery win to test the rules
Someone I know won £2.5m a few month ago, they had just retired.
One of my customers was in a syndicate that won £100k each, about 17/18 years old, he just blew the lot.
My biggest win £1,600, I invested it, worth about £3k now, not enough for 90 days+ yet.

 

[disneyholic family]

i have a funny story about a big exec i know who was refused entry into the US - but no time now to write it up..
boiled down to a ticked off immigration officer...

 

[disneyholic family]

so here's the story
the background:
there's a British exec who travels back and forth to the US all the time for business.
He's also married to an american.

Also, as you all know, when you leave america, you don't cross immigration. you just get on a plane. There's no passport control that you have to go through when you leave the states and your passport is not stamped.
In other words, you only have an entry stamp, not an exit stamp in your passport.

Ok.

So this executive is in america on business. He then flies back to the UK.
A short time later, he flies to America with his wife and daughter, to spend Christmas with the inlaws.

mr. executive gets off the plane in america and gets to passport control. The immigration officer looks at his passport, sees an entrance stamp from the week earlier and says, "you never left".

Mr executive responds flippantly, "i must have left, as here i am again"

well - the immigration officer was not amused.
Mr executive was refused entrance and was put on the next available plane back to the UK (in the meantime he was held by the immigration authorities).

moral of the story - immigration officers aren't exactly rocket scientists. Treat them with the respect they think their badge deserves.

 

[wayneg]

Its a crazy system. Will ESTA be any better?

 

[disneyholic family]

I should add that this happened in 2002, soon after 9/11, when i suppose the authorities were a bit touchier than perhaps they are today..
and before all the chips and biometrics and whatever..

but you still don't cross passport control on the way out, so i still don't know how they know you've left and are coming back...

 

[wayneg]

The only ways for them to know are airline records and handing in the green stub from visa waiver.

 

[disneyholic family]

The only ways for them to know are airline records and handing in the green stub from visa waiver.

i just did a quick check on the internet - there are many countries that have no government operated checkpoint upon departure including according to this article: USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, Ireland

interesting.
I hadn't remembered that about the UK. I haven't been in london in a couple of years.
I often cross in and out of amsterdam and there is most definitely an entrance and exit checkpoint at schiphol.

if you have no exit check, then you really can't be serious about illegal immigration. Without a check, you have no clue as to whether someone has stayed or left. Maybe once they put GPS chips into passports they'll know.