Potential entry problem into USA?

[disney2014plan]

Hi all


asking on behalf of a friend here. On his last trip to the USA he was taken aside at Customs/Immigration. He was told that a few years previously his passport was not endorsed to say that he had left the USA on that trip. After almost 2 hours they let him in, but told him that he would need to contact the US Embassy and prove that he had indeed returned to the UK (that won't be a problem as he has payslips, bank statements etc showing that he was being paid for work and performing financial transactions like using his debit card in the UK). Does anyone have any experience of how long this might take?

 

[StarWarsJez]

Very hard to say as there's often no logic to the way these kinds of things are progressed. My advice to your friend is to personally go to the US embassy in Grosvenor Sq taking EVERY bit of information with him, including te evidence you mentioned as well as all the usual stuff like passport, birth cert etc. etc (originals and copies). Also get them to see if they can get someone like their bank manager, lawyer, doctor, employer etc. to write a letter explaining he/she was in the UK during the time

The more info you provide at he beginning, the quicker and easier it is for them to investigate and sign off.

 

[A Small World]

A letter from the employer would possibly help as well as they could have been paid by a UK company but working in the US and I assume all the payslips would show is the employer not the place of work

 

[MrRomance]

Hi all


asking on behalf of a friend here. On his last trip to the USA he was taken aside at Customs/Immigration. He was told that a few years previously his passport was not endorsed to say that he had left the USA on that trip. After almost 2 hours they let him in, but told him that he would need to contact the US Embassy and prove that he had indeed returned to the UK (that won't be a problem as he has payslips, bank statements etc showing that he was being paid for work and performing financial transactions like using his debit card in the UK). Does anyone have any experience of how long this might take?

This happened to me a number of years ago. Basically, when you entered the US, a portion of the visa or visa waiver form was stapled into your passport. When you leave the US, the airline staff are supposed to take it out and return it to Border Protection to "check you out" of the US. If anything happens and that portion isn't returned, there is no record of you leaving the US and so you are effectively "overstaying". I noticed it, contacted them directly and returned it to them myself and that resolved the problem but it did flag me up for future issues. The wheels don't turn too quickly in my experience, so speeding the process up by using special delivery might be a good plan!