90 day ESTA query

AdamD

I will be travelling from Dublin to Boston in May and staying there for 90 days. I have booked flights which leave me in the USA for 90 days. Originally I thought this would be fine as the rule is 90 days, but having read this forum the US immigration officers sound rather strict. So I'm wondering does anybody have any experience of pushing the visa to the 90 day limit? I'll have a return flight home and proof of a graduate job to come back to, along with accommodation booked for when I'm there. I'll be applying for an ESTA as soon as my new passport arrives, if there is an issue will it be brought up during that application?

I just don't want to arrive at the airport only to find there's a problem!

iusedtoknow

TBH, I would never stretch it to 90 days for the following reason. A mate of mine did it, and was stranded in NY for an extra day due to a snow storm. He was counted as an overstayer, and has been refused entry on the waiver. Fortunately, the embassy saw sense and he has a visa for in/out privileges to the states (which doesn't mean he'll be admitted by the CPB, but he can try).

The return flight, the graduate job etc is good enough evidence, however also be prepared to answer about your financial situation and how you're going to support yourself for 90 days.

coylemj

The info on the US websites seems as you have found out to be very strict about the 90 days. You may be better off applying for some kind of a visa because if your flight is delayed or you get stuck in the US because of illness or injury, you could end up overstaying your 90 day approval which might affect your ability to get ESTA approval in the future.

ProudDUB

If you are going for that long, make sure that you bring proof with you that you have the funds to support yourself while you are in the US, without needing to work. The ESTA approval process is an electronic one, so the odds of a complication cropping up there are slim. But if when you get to the airport, you raise any red flags about your intentions to try and live and work in the US and you'll be refused entry, even though you have ESTA approval.

I'd agree with the other posters about the risks of flying out of the county on day 90. All it takes is one canceled flight, or run of bad weather and you have over stayed the terms of the visa waiver. You run the risk of always having problems getting into the country ever again.

AdamD

iusedtoknow wrote: »

TBH, I would never stretch it to 90 days for the following reason. A mate of mine did it, and was stranded in NY for an extra day due to a snow storm. He was counted as an overstayer, and has been refused entry on the waiver. Fortunately, the embassy saw sense and he has a visa for in/out privileges to the states (which doesn't mean he'll be admitted by the CPB, but he can try).

The return flight, the graduate job etc is good enough evidence, however also be prepared to answer about your financial situation and how you're going to support yourself for 90 days.

coylemj wrote: »

The info on the US websites seems as you have found out to be very strict about the 90 days. You may be better off applying for some kind of a visa because if your flight is delayed or you get stuck in the US because of illness or injury, you could end up overstaying your 90 day approval which might affect your ability to get ESTA approval in the future.

ProudDUB wrote: »

If you are going for that long, make sure that you bring proof with you that you have the funds to support yourself while you are in the US, without needing to work. The ESTA approval process is an electronic one, so the odds of a complication cropping up there are slim. But if when you get to the airport, you raise any red flags about your intentions to try and live and work in the US and you'll be refused entry, even though you have ESTA approval.

I'd agree with the other posters about the risks of flying out of the county on day 90. All it takes is one canceled flight, or run of bad weather and you have over stayed the terms of the visa waiver. You run the risk of always having problems getting into the country ever again.

Cheers for the replies lads. I've been saving for a while so should have in excess of €4000 in my bank account, a bank statement should suffice for that? I realise the risks of a flight being cancelled etc. but it is highly unlikely (famous last words), so I'll take my chances as long as everything else is above board. Will I need to bring proof of having the graduate job?

iusedtoknow

AdamD wrote: »

Cheers for the replies lads. I've been saving for a while so should have in excess of €4000 in my bank account, a bank statement should suffice for that? I realise the risks of a flight being cancelled etc. but it is highly unlikely (famous last words), so I'll take my chances as long as everything else is above board. Will I need to bring proof of having the graduate job?

Do you have a credit card? If so 4000 and a credit card should be fine.
Bring as much proof as you can. You could strike lucky and the border guy not look at you twice. They can be pricks, but in reality, it's pretty rare.

ProudDUB

AdamD wrote: »

Cheers for the replies lads. I've been saving for a while so should have in excess of €4000 in my bank account, a bank statement should suffice for that? I realise the risks of a flight being cancelled etc. but it is highly unlikely (famous last words), so I'll take my chances as long as everything else is above board. Will I need to bring proof of having the graduate job?

Yes, bring proof of the job. As you are going for so long, you should plan on bringing anything else that shows that you have long term ties to Ireland that you want to come back to. You aren't the average holiday maker going to Disney World for a couple of weeks, so they will ask about your intentions. The most documentation that you have, that backs up that you aren't planning on going to live and work there illegally, the better.

Do you mind my asking what you'll be doing over there for 3 months and whether you will be paying for your accommodation out of that 4,000, or are you staying with others? Four grand is 1,300 a month. That really won't go mega far, if you have to feed yourself and keep a roof over your head and get around the place for 3 months.

AdamD

iusedtoknow wrote: »

Do you have a credit card? If so 4000 and a credit card should be fine.
Bring as much proof as you can. You could strike lucky and the border guy not look at you twice. They can be pricks, but in reality, it's pretty rare.

ProudDUB wrote: »

Yes, bring proof of the job. As you are going for so long, you should plan on bringing anything else that shows that you have long term ties to Ireland that you want to come back to. You aren't the average holiday maker going to Disney World for a couple of weeks, so they will ask about your intentions. The most documentation that you have, that backs up that you aren't planning on going to live and work there illegally, the better.

Do you mind my asking what you'll be doing over there for 3 months and whether you will be paying for your accommodation out of that 4,000, or are you staying with others? Four grand is 1,300 a month. That really won't go mega far, if you have to feed yourself and keep a roof over your head and get around the place for 3 months.

Will be going over with J1ers and essentially it can be viewed as a j1 without the working. Accommodation will be roughly 1600 dollars. I'll probably have 4500 euro is roughly 6150 dollars, so 4550 dollars on living expenses + a bit of travelling for the 90 days. Does that sound reasonable for that kind of living?

iusedtoknow

Will you be travelling with J1'ers?

Seriously think hard about this. If the border guards catch wind of this, or put two and two together, you'll have a big fat "rejected entry" on your passport before you know it. No matter what you do, CBP are going to suspect you'll be working under the table

AdamD

iusedtoknow wrote: »

Will you be travelling with J1'ers?

Seriously think hard about this. If the border guards catch wind of this, or put two and two together, you'll have a big fat "rejected entry" on your passport before you know it. No matter what you do, CBP are going to suspect you'll be working under the table

I'll be travelling on my own, with sufficient funds to last the 90 days without working..

coylemj

I'd bring evidence of you having graduated in case they think you're a college drop-out going over to work. And if you have a definite job offer, bring the original letter offering you the job, all the better if it mentions your start date.

R.D. aka MR.D

i went for the full 90days over the summer/autumn.

I flew from Japan into LA. I had my return flight booked to Ireland.

I brought all ther paperwork i could think of like bank statements etc.

The guy was really nice. Asked me what i was doing (meeting my US boyfriend to take a roadtrip across the US), asked me my job (ESL teacher) and then at the very end said 'so you're staying the full 90days, huh? (i said yep) and then gave me the stamp.
It wasn't as fast as that because obviously he asked the same questions about 3 times in different ways!

I was really worried about it because i'd heard some terrible things about immigration there but i have to say it was a smooth process. i had more trouble in Japan!

AdamD

Just on this:

Went to the airport with ESTA, proof of job/funds etc.


Only question I got asked was

Are you going on holiday?

Yes

Ok


And that was it, happy days.

Mars Bar

I'm going for 8 weeks but have no job or college course to come back to. I will be going to Spain a few days after I get back for a wedding though so if I have proof of those flights to Spain, would that be good enough?
I'm staying with a friend for the 8 weeks so roughly how much would you expect to live on without having to pay for accommodation?

iusedtoknow

Mars Bar wrote: »

I'm going for 8 weeks but have no job or college course to come back to. I will be going to Spain a few days after I get back for a wedding though so if I have proof of those flights to Spain, would that be good enough?
I'm staying with a friend for the 8 weeks so roughly how much would you expect to live on without having to pay for accommodation?

It really depends - 8 weeks in New York is going to be more expensive than 8 weeks in rural iowa

Personally....i would want access to 4000 for that amount of time...it would show that you wouldn't be tempted to work under the table etc

Mars Bar

I'll be in L.A and San Diego area. Thanks!