Re: Overstaying your Welcome

More | Report Post

Dear Jonathan,

The Expiration Date for her visa should not be confused with
the authorized length of her stay in the U.S., given to her
by the U.S. immigration inspector at port-of-entry, on the
Arrival-Departure Record, Form I-94W for the Visa Waiver
Program. The visa expiration date has nothing to do with the
authorized length of her stay in the U.S. for any given
visit. On this card, the U.S. immigration inspector records
either a date or "D/S" (duration of status). In most cases,
a specific date will be indicated on the Form I-94 (in the
lower right-hand corner). If her I-94 contains a specific
date, that is the date by which she must leave the United
States. If she have a date on her Form I-94, she should
apply for her extension of stay with USCIS well in advance
of its expiration of her visa. She should carefully consider
the dates of her authorized stay and make sure she is
following the procedure. Failure to do so will cause her to
be out-of-status. Staying beyond the period of time
authorized, by the Department of Homeland Security, and out-
of-status in the U.S., is a violation of U.S. immigration
laws, and may cause her to be ineligible for a visa in the
future for return travel to the U.S.
The alternative option for her is visiting Canada (she does
not need visa to Canada) for few days and re-enter again to
the U.S. you may have to travel with her (there is reason
and explanation for this idea). If you are planning to marry
at some stage in near future, you can file for K-1 visa for
her after returning back from Canada. If you have two weeks
before her visa expire she still had time to file for visa
extension or file for K-1 visa.

Thanks

On 2/20/07, Jonathan wrote:
> Hi - My girlfriend is here on a Visa EXCEPTION (waiver).
> She's from France and was allowed 3 months to stay. Anyway
> - she was originally just here for a month and decided to
> stay longer.... but now the only plane we can get to take
> her back is 3 days past the deadline. Do you think this
> will be a problem for her when she leaves the country? Does
> anyone here have any experience with this kind of
> situation?
>
> sincerely, Jonathan