How do you know if you have a 10-year ban for overstaying in the USA?
How do you know if you have a 10-year ban for overstaying in the USA?
I am English, married to an American for 4 years now. I am back in England now but I overstayed my visa briefly because of health issues, which has now brought me back home for treatment. My husband is still in the USA and we are trying to organise things so he can join me here.
I wanted to know if I can ever go back for a visit. Will I get a ban? I never had any issues with immigration coming back. No one mentioned my overstay.
I contacted the US embassy here in London and the only records they have of me is from a 6-month visa I had as a child living there with my family. No mention of my recent trip. I came over on an ESTA. Will the embassy not have a record of that?
Best Answer
The only possible "ban" for your case is the unlawful presence ban (INA 212(a)(9)(B)). When you stay past the date on your I-94, you start accruing "unlawful presence", although if you were given satisfactory departure it may not count during that time. If you accrue 180 days of "unlawful presence" and then leave the US, you have a 3-year ban. If you accrue 1 year of "unlawful presence" and then leave the US, you have a 10-year ban. If you did not stay for 180 days after your I-94 expired before you left, then you couldn't have had this ban. But just because you don't have a ban doesn't mean you will be able to get a visa or they will let you in.
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How does the US know if you overstay?
Travel Records It's pretty easy for foreigners in the U.S. to know if they've overstayed their visas. All they need to do is look at their I-94 arrival and departure cards, which clearly state how long they can stay.What happens if you overstay your visa for 10 years?
What are the consequences of overstaying my visa? You can face removal proceedings (deportation), a 3-year bar, a 10-year bar, or a permanent bar depending on the amount of unlawful presence you have accrued and your conditions.How long are you banned from the US if you overstay your visa?
If you overstay by one year or more, after you depart the U.S., you will be barred from reentering the U.S. for ten years. This is because unlawful presence is one of the many U.S. grounds of inadmissibility, with built-in penalties.Can I come back to the US if I overstayed?
Overstays & Unlawful Presence If you enter the United States with a valid visa (for example, a tourist or student visa) and overstay by less than 180 days, your visa will be considered void and you'll need to get a new visa in your home country if you want to come back to the United States.What is a Visa Overstay? Consequences and Solutions to Over staying a Visa
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