Will U.S. customs turn away a visa-holder due to length of stay?
March 1, 2019 11:03 AM Subscribe
I purchased plane tickets for a Guatemalan friend to visit the U.S. from April to September (she has a tourist visa). Her lawyer has since advised her that if her return flight is more than 20 days after her arrival, customs may turn her away based on what sounds like a suspicion that she's here to work. Is this true?
She's asked me to change the ticket to the 20 day mark, the idea being that she'll change it back to September once she's in the U.S., but that first change costs about $400 or more, as will the second change. Would love to avoid this if possible.
In short: will customs just turn away a tourist visa-holder on the assumption that she'll be seeking under-the-table employment when she's here?
She's asked me to change the ticket to the 20 day mark, the idea being that she'll change it back to September once she's in the U.S., but that first change costs about $400 or more, as will the second change. Would love to avoid this if possible.
In short: will customs just turn away a tourist visa-holder on the assumption that she'll be seeking under-the-table employment when she's here?
I'm guessing that deceiving the customs officer concerning intended length of stay is a good way to get in trouble. Admission on a tourist visa is discretionary. It's hard to tell how racist any given customs officer will be, but she needs to be prepared to show her ties to her home country and intent to return.
posted by praemunire at 11:17 AM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 11:17 AM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
There's nothing special about 20 days, but it's true that she might get more questions for a five month stay than a two week one. It depends on the context - if she's a retired grandmother going to stay for six months with her kids and grandkids in the U.S. she's probably going to sail through. If she's a young university student with no obvious means of support taking a semester or two off school to hang out with a friend she's only met once or twice, they'll probably have more questions about why she plans to stay for so long and how she plans to provide for herself. Definitely agree with praemunire that misleading the U.S. immigration apparatus is NOT a smart move.
posted by exutima at 11:20 AM on March 1, 2019
posted by exutima at 11:20 AM on March 1, 2019
Response by poster: Additional question:
Seems folks are suggesting it's better to have a good explanation for the long stay than to try to re-book her flight once in-country. If so, would it be to her benefit for me to write out an explanation for customs in English? She doesn't speak English.
posted by kensington314 at 11:50 AM on March 1, 2019
Seems folks are suggesting it's better to have a good explanation for the long stay than to try to re-book her flight once in-country. If so, would it be to her benefit for me to write out an explanation for customs in English? She doesn't speak English.
posted by kensington314 at 11:50 AM on March 1, 2019
She might also want to provide proof that she has ties to her home country & that she has sufficient funds to support herself while in the USA, and a return ticket already bought. A letter from you saying she is staying with you & therefore wouldn't have accommodation & food costs might also help if she doesn't have a lot of money, it might not I had to provide that when entering the UK years ago for a long stay on a tourist visa. Basically you need to prove you don't need to work to stay & that you're going to go home when your ticket says you will.
They might still turn her away, they might not even look twice. I've lived in the USA eight years with a green card, married to a US citizen. I've entered & left the country with no problems for many years, my last visit I went back to Australia when I visited family alone & on my return had to jump through hoops frantically trying to provide all sorts of evidence because I'd traveled without my husband & he wasn't there to pick me up (well no he's at our home airport in Chicago not here meeting me at LAX), times they are a changing. Better to have the extra paperwork & not need it than the other way around, times they are achanging.
posted by wwax at 12:25 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
They might still turn her away, they might not even look twice. I've lived in the USA eight years with a green card, married to a US citizen. I've entered & left the country with no problems for many years, my last visit I went back to Australia when I visited family alone & on my return had to jump through hoops frantically trying to provide all sorts of evidence because I'd traveled without my husband & he wasn't there to pick me up (well no he's at our home airport in Chicago not here meeting me at LAX), times they are a changing. Better to have the extra paperwork & not need it than the other way around, times they are achanging.
posted by wwax at 12:25 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I guess she's not on the visa waiver (max 90 days), but on a B2 visa (allowed for 6 months).
In general: I (European, white female) always get a bunch of questions at the border, even when nothing to hide.
If I were her: I'd get at least a solid story on why she'd need to be in the US for 5 months.. I think you writing a letter would definitely be useful, as well as her showing ties to the home country. I'm not sure if they'll be afraid she'll work there (customs to me always seems to be more concerned to me *not leaving* the US, than me working there - though I can imagine it's different for her), so showing reasons for her to go back home would make sense. Btw there are enough people speaking Spanish at the border.
Last time I went my (British) colleague was taken in for questioning. They put him in a room with a lot of others, they took his phone immediately, and the customs/border staff would go through text messages and emails and all that to find incriminating info (there was none in his case, but they did send an Eastern European and South American people back that appeared to go to the US to work). So IF there's any chance that she would be working, it wouldn't be very bright to txt about it.
posted by Thisandthat at 3:27 PM on March 1, 2019
In general: I (European, white female) always get a bunch of questions at the border, even when nothing to hide.
If I were her: I'd get at least a solid story on why she'd need to be in the US for 5 months.. I think you writing a letter would definitely be useful, as well as her showing ties to the home country. I'm not sure if they'll be afraid she'll work there (customs to me always seems to be more concerned to me *not leaving* the US, than me working there - though I can imagine it's different for her), so showing reasons for her to go back home would make sense. Btw there are enough people speaking Spanish at the border.
Last time I went my (British) colleague was taken in for questioning. They put him in a room with a lot of others, they took his phone immediately, and the customs/border staff would go through text messages and emails and all that to find incriminating info (there was none in his case, but they did send an Eastern European and South American people back that appeared to go to the US to work). So IF there's any chance that she would be working, it wouldn't be very bright to txt about it.
posted by Thisandthat at 3:27 PM on March 1, 2019
I would think that having a letter from you (if you're her host while she's staying here in the US), clarifying that you've invited her, she's not going to be working, she'll be staying with you free of charge (i.e. she doesn't need to work to pay rent), and that she will be returning on [date] would help. Can't hurt, anyway.
There is really no guaranteed way to ensure someone won't be turned away at the border, since CBP have significant discretion, and once they do it often takes lawyers to sort out. But for $800 in change fees (plus the fact that the ticket change may actually appear much more squirrelly if they somehow detect it; I'm not sure what information the airlines transmit and if that's included, probably not but you never know) I'd just book the ticket for the actual length of stay.
The only other thing that comes to mind that I'd probably do, would be for you contact CBP in advance in writing (maybe try via email first) and ask them what, if any, additional documentation should she bring to ensure she isn't denied entry. They may punt on answering and give you a BS "ask a lawyer" non-answer, but who knows; I've actually had pretty good experiences calling up CBP in the past.
posted by Kadin2048 at 6:19 PM on March 1, 2019
There is really no guaranteed way to ensure someone won't be turned away at the border, since CBP have significant discretion, and once they do it often takes lawyers to sort out. But for $800 in change fees (plus the fact that the ticket change may actually appear much more squirrelly if they somehow detect it; I'm not sure what information the airlines transmit and if that's included, probably not but you never know) I'd just book the ticket for the actual length of stay.
The only other thing that comes to mind that I'd probably do, would be for you contact CBP in advance in writing (maybe try via email first) and ask them what, if any, additional documentation should she bring to ensure she isn't denied entry. They may punt on answering and give you a BS "ask a lawyer" non-answer, but who knows; I've actually had pretty good experiences calling up CBP in the past.
posted by Kadin2048 at 6:19 PM on March 1, 2019
IDK if this is still the case, but the border patrol officer has (or had) a lot of discretion concerning IF a person is allowed in and for how long. So you might have to change flight plans regardless.
Depending on port of entry, agents might be fluent in Spanish. But don’t count on it. A letter from you might help.
posted by Neekee at 9:12 AM on March 2, 2019
Depending on port of entry, agents might be fluent in Spanish. But don’t count on it. A letter from you might help.
posted by Neekee at 9:12 AM on March 2, 2019
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posted by viramamunivar at 11:06 AM on March 1, 2019