QUESTION
How to waive 3 yr ban after overstay, and how soon can one re enter if ban is waived?
Asked on May 12th, 2013 on Immigration - Nevada
More details to this question:
I am a British citizen. I entered US (legally) on a 2 yr M1 visa in Mar 2010. I departed in Jan 2012. I then re entered (legally) on VWP in Mar 2012. My USC citizen boyfriend then asked me to marry him and to stay. I agreed. We saw a lawyer who told us as that technically I'd be overstaying but as long as married, that would be forgiven. Within months of us deciding to get married, his mother died, and his emotional and mental health has been severely adversely impacted. As a result I've overstayed for 11 months - and we're still not married. His health is still fragile. Proceeding with a marriage is still out the question right now - the relationship has completely broken down. I want to wait for my fiance to get better. But I'm not prepared to stay here out of status, and I don't want to sabotage (further) my freedom to visit the USA if he never gets his balance back. To avoid the 10 yr ban I plan to leave the country before the end of this month. But - I'll have many many reasons to want to be able to come back regularly. When I leave - can I have the 3 yr ban waived? And how long will I have to wait before I can expect to re enter, if the ban is waived?
2 ANSWERS
If you have overstayed by more than 180 days but less than 365, as soon as you depart the US, you will automatically trigger the 3 year bar to reentry, which can only be waived by a showing of extreme hardship to a US citizen spouse, which is fairly difficult to do in most cases. If you do not have a US citizen spouse, then it is obviously going to be impossible to prove extreme hardship. Once the 3 years are up, you will be eligible for a visa but you will not be able to travel on the VWP any longer even though you will still be a citizen of a visa waiver country because as soon as you violated the terms of the VWP, you can no longer utilize it.
Answered on May 14th, 2013 at 10:13 PM
Robert E. West
You will create the ban by leaving. You may want to rethink this. as far as a tourist, it will never happen again Go see a lawyer before you make any decision.
Answered on May 14th, 2013 at 10:05 PM