how many times a year can i visit usa

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:It is a grey area as so whether its 180 days in one rolling year or 180 days per visit.

I know many people who spend more than 180 days a year in Florida, they do get questioned by immigration but so far have been allowed in without too much hassle.[/quote]

Certainly is a grey area.

It would be totally illogical for someone using a visa waiver to be allowed to spend(in theory) 361 days in every 365 in the USA and yet a someone with a visa be restricted to 6 months in a year.

IMO if a visitor on a Visa waiver can leave the USA afer 90 days and return the next day for a further 90 days, then a visa holder can do the same after a stay of 6 months.

However stand by for close questioning by immigration.

That said, personally I cannot see why they would be bother how long you stayed in the USA. The US Government actively encourages visitors who spend money, pay taxes etc.

Surely the only concern would be that someone intended to settle and eventually become a burden to Uncle Sam.

[Andrena]

We have friends who basically stay permanently in the US. They have a 6 month visa, as we do, and they go to stay with their son in Canada for a couple of weeks and then return or go off on a cruise and then return.
They have never had any problems and have been doing this for about 8/9 years now. They are retired and have no intention of working. They also keep a home, albeit a mobile home, in the UK so that they have a permanent address in the UK. They tell me that many others do the same and I have no reason not to believe them.

Andrena

[SDJ]

My friends also do this and keep a mobile home in UK so they have a permanent address and on the electoral roll.

Sandra

[jimiansville]

In theory there are no restrictions on the number of times you can enter the US under the Visa Waiver system. However in practice you have to be prepared for detailed questioning and close scrutiny on arrival and as we were told by by immigration officers on two occasions, could run the risk of being refused entry.

We tend to visit around 4 times per year for 3 or 4 weeks at a time. On arrival at Orlando on one trip the immigration officer looked at all the stamps in our passports (not the information on her screen) and said we were only allowed to stay for a total of 90 days in any one year. We stated that we thought it was 90 days per trip to which she replied yes, we could not stay more than 90 days at any one time but that we could not stay more than a total of 90 days in a year. She looked at the stamps in our passport and asked how long we had stayed on some recent trip dates she picked from our passports and said we had been for a total of 70 odd days in the year already and that we could not continue to do that. We didn't argue but explained we had a vacation home and liked to spend time in the nice Florida climate. She stamped our passports for a 90 day stay as normal and let us through.

On another visit we arrived at Sanford Orlando were told we were visiting too often (2 month gap since previous visit) and we could be suspected of working. We explained we had a vacation home and this made things even worse! The immigration officer said as we owned real estate in the US and visited often there was a suspicion that we may be planning to settle in the US. It was all very uncomfortable but we were let through only to be met by another immigration officer at the entrance to the baggage hall who was stopping people at random. He flicked through our passport and told us we could not visit as often as we were doing as we could be refused entry for visiting too often. We asked what the regulations were and he basically said that under the Visa Waiver system we had no rights and if they thought we were visiting too often it raised the suspicion that we could be working and could be refused entry.

These experiences have made us very uncomfortable with the whole process and we now take care to leave a 2 - 3 month gap between visits.

[Robert5988]

Jim,
That seems to be down to individual officers; it contrasts with the 2 posts above yours where people are virtually permanant 'residents'.

I have visited 6 times a year for the past 6 years with stays of around 3 weeks(up to 6 weeks on one trip)

You have highlighted the problem with the Visa Waiver. in that you sign away your rights to any form of appeal. However even if you have a visitor's visa that allows 6 months you still face the same problem if the immigration officer believes you might breach the conditions for entry.

However IMO, whatever the individual officers might threaten(bad day in the office?), I don't believe that anyone will ever be refused entry unless you cannot prove to them that you have sufficient funds for your visits and meet all the other conditions.

Has anyone any first hand knowledge of entry denied for 'too many visits?'

[jimiansville]

I can only report on our personal experiences on arrival in the US having visited regularly for over 25 years and must admit our treatment in recent years has made us very cautious not to visit too often. We were were there from mid August last year until the end of September and went back in on December for four weeks and will not be returning for a few weeks to try and lave adequate space between our visits.

I must admit I'm really surprised at the reports of people who can stay there on an almost permanent basis. It is my understanding that a side trip to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean islands did not constitute a departure from the US as the authorities regard this as still being within North America. Indeed I understood that if you entered the US then went to Canada this did not qualify you for a new start to your 90 days under the Visa Waiver or 180 days for the Tourist Visa as the clock was still ticking from your origial entry into the US. The closest place on the mainland to exit and renter the US to be able to gain a fresh start to the 90 or 180 days would be to go to Guatamala which isn't really very convenient for most people.

[Robert5988]

Certainly the regulations for Visa waiver now preclude a trip to a neighbouring country to 'reset the clock' for a further 90 days; that is a fairly recent change. However not sure if that applies to a visitor's visa for the 180 days????

My personal opinion is that sometimes the individual immigration officers are simply being mischeivious and exceeding their brief. To deny entry they surely would have to have very strong suspicions that someone intended to breach the visa waiver or visa conditions; obviously seeking work would be the main factor.

The USA spends $millions to encourage tourism and the longer we stay the more we spend; so why discourage us? - as long as we are not going to be a burden on Uncle Sam.

Certainly it will not stop me coming as often as I wish.

[SDJ]

I have first hand knowledge of someone being turned back when they attempted to get back to Florida on their 90 day visa waiver. They used to return to UK but not for long and then come back to their vacation home. Result, they are banned from entering USA for ?? years. They have lost their home which is now in foreclosure and a bargain for someone. They picked themselves up and now live in Winnepeg, Canada in a superb huge house, but are still barred from USA 3 years later.

I have also experienced the same as Jim. I have a B1/B2 but it needed renewing 3 years ago. I made the appointment to go to the US Embassy in October to renew it. It was the same year as we bought this particular home in Orlando and I had visited quite a bit. I needed to return to Florida so went in on the 1-94. I was told in no uncertain terms that as I had already exceeded 90 days during that year, they could refuse me entry. I showed them my out of date B1/B2 which had been used for the previous 3 trips earlier that year, and she said that was okay, but make sure I renewed as if I came in again that year on 1-94 I would be refused entry as one can only stay 90 days in one year!!

When I visited the US Embassy to renew, the US guy asked me had I ever had problems with immigration officers. I told him what had happened, and asked him what the actual ruling was. His words 'it depends on the individual IO and if he is having a bad day, you may get refused'. Wonderful. Just about sums up the ridiculous farce we need to go through which is being made more difficult each year.

As far as going out of the US to a different country on a B1/B2 - we recently went on a cruise, and whereas they used to issue you with another 180 days, they no longer do that. Fortunately it was not why we went on the cruise, but I know some people who have often gone down that route.

So, whatever anyone says, quotes etc., about visas and how many times you can go in and out of the US, we all have different experiences, and you will never know what is going to happen to you at immigration until it does. Hopefully it won't!!

Sandra

[Robert5988]

Sandra,
What was the official reason for the visa waiver people(now in Canada)being banned?

It simply cannot be for spending more than 90 days in the USA as there is no such regulation, despite what an individual immigration officer might mistakenly state.

The rules specifically state that there is no restriction on the number of times you can enter, or the length of stay as long as this doesn't exceed 90 days.

They presumably must have had suspicions that they were breaching the conditions of the waiver. Working? No ties to UK? Children of school age?

However I certainly agree with you that the whole process is a farce and we just shouldn't be faced with individual officers making statements that are simply wrong.

[Katys Grandad]

Not right on the point here but I've long thought that there is an awful lot of bluff going on at the Immigration desks and, in reality, the officers don't carry that much authority. They really do need a good valid reason to refuse entry, which continues to be a very rare event.

As Robert points out, a lot of these things aren't backed up by regulations and I honestly think that a lot of the officers aren't that knowledgable on the finer points and just try it on. While this is purely based on my personal experience from a lot of transatlantic travel, I try to avoid the younger officials who seem to 'enjoy' the authority a bit more that the more mature people.