Can you exit from the United States to obtain additional 90 days stay?
It often happens that foreign citizens want to stay in the United States more than 90 days, leave the country going for Mexico, Canada, a Caribbean country, to obtain again 90 more days stay.
However, even if this permit is granted outside the country, the Customs, and Border Protection can block the return of the Passenger, halting him/her at the frontier for violation of Immigrant law.
In the case in which there is a necessity or desire to stay longer than 90 days provided by the ESTA module, you have the possibility of applying for a more time-extended visa to the American embassy from your country of provenience. It is always better to follow the more linear practices than incurring in the problems described above.
In other words, if it is true that by leaving the country and returning the 90 maximum days are reset, it is also true that there is a large margin of discretion by the agent of immigration that can approve or deny the traveler’s entry. If he were to deny entry, for the next ten years the unfortunate person will undergo very serious complications in obtaining another visa permit for the US.
Example 1: Daniel
Daniel arrived in Miami less than a month ago. His was a touristic trip with friends that slowly became something else, though.
Daniel, in fact, had fallen in love with the city and wants to remain for an indefinite period.
He entered the US with an Esta and he knows that in 3 months he will have to leave, otherwise, he would be considered illegal immigrant.
Moreover, with an Esta, it is not possible to work in the US, definitely not legally.
Our protagonist, on the other hand, started to work illegally for a restaurant, and the money he earns support him while he looks for a better immigration solution.
In addition, he was planning to leave the country in 40 days to go to Santo Domingo for a couple of days and then return. This would have started over his staying period and have 90 more days ahead.
After consulting a lawyer specialized in immigration, Daniel preferred to return to Italy and apply for a visa at the US Embassy.
We also advice to always follow the rules. If something illegal went wrong, it would be rather difficult to fix the situation after.
Example 2: Marcus
Marcus is an Australian citizen visiting her girlfriend who lives temporarily in Los Angeles.
Marcus has been living on American territory for about two months with an Esta and just does not want to leave his girlfriend in Los Angeles. He is looking for a way to prolong his stay with her.
The most obvious thing that came to his mind is to leave the country with a short trip with her girlfriend in Mexico and then return to the US after some days.
Entering the country, the official figured Marcus’ intentions out, also because her girlfriend had a temporary visa while he had a travel authorization instead.
The official of immigration permitted Marcus’ return to American territory but did not reset it to 90 days. In two weeks Marcus will have to leave the country otherwise, he would become illegal.
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