GF was let into the US but her 90-day VWP stamp was voided

[jaymurk]

Hi everybody, here's some background info on my situation:

My girlfriend is a Taiwan national, who had been studying and working in the States from 2014 until 2016. In February 2016, her work visa was about to expire and she decided to go back to Taiwan rather than extend her visa (she didn't see a future working at this particular company), in order to spend time with her family whom she hadn't seen in a few years. However, seeing as our relationship was going really well, she planned on coming back to the US on a VWP to spend more together.

She arrived at LAX at 9pm on 5/25/16. I waited at the arrivals gate for hours, long past the normal time it should have taken for someone to get through customs. As I feared, she had gotten pulled into secondary inspection. Finally, I saw her come out the arrival gates at around 3AM....after I'd been waiting for six hours in the lobby without any information or guidance from the LAX security officers. ("All you can do is wait", is the only thing I was told).

She was exhausted and crying. Apparently she had been brought into secondary inspection, and was grilled and berated about what she was doing in the States. One CBP officer in especially rude particular yelled and screamed profanities at her repeatedly.


Anyways, to get to the main point of the problem: They had initially stamped her passport with the 90-day VWP expiration date, but later on crossed it out and voided the stamp. Anyway, I guess they eventually let her through, but said that its "best she leave as soon as possible".

We had a whole trip planned and scheduled, and now its ruined due to this news. My question is...since they voided her VWP stamp, how long can she actually stay in the US? No new expiration date was verbally given to her, nor any additional stamping or indication on her passport of when she is supposed to leave.

Is there any way to verify when she has to leave by? We don't want to jeopardize any chances for her to get through customs in the future by overstaying. Also, is there anything we can do about how she was poorly treated at customs?

Any insight or advice would be really helpful -

[daggit]

, who had been studying and working in the States from 2014 until 2016.

What visa was she on?

And as much as anyone deserves empathy after a long journey, CBP Officers are nothing but professional and courteous.

[jaymurk]

What visa was she on?

-She was on an F1 student visa, and was able to work and earn money as an intern through her school, UC Irvine.

And as much as anyone deserves empathy after a long journey, CBP Officers are nothing but professional and courteous.

-I'm not sure I understand this part of your response, are you being sarcastic? To clarify, she interacted with many CBP officers and said most of them were professional. However, the main person interrogating her was extremely rude and unpleasant.

[daggit]

No; no sarcasm. While some officers may come across as rude, there's a difference between

yelled and screamed profanities at her repeatedly.

and

However, the main person interrogating her was extremely rude and unpleasant.

[jaymurk]

No; no sarcasm. While some officers may come across as rude, there's a difference between



and

While I agree with you, I'm pretty sure "People like you need to stay out of our f***ing country!" falls under the former. Which was just one of many things said to her.

[rayb]

Go to the I-94 DHS download page at ( http://tinyurl.com/n5g376c ) and pull up her I-84, record of entry, to see if an expiration date was assigned for her stay.

I have to side, somewhat, with other responses to your report that your gal was yelled at and had profanities screamed at her I suspect that your gal probably exaggerated about how she was spoken to, and that she was dealing with an interviewer who was somewhat brusque. I've found that folks for whom English is a second language tend to misunderstand nuances of American English.

--Ray B

OTE=jaymurk;456901]Hi everybody, here's some background info on my situation:

My girlfriend is a Taiwan national, who had been studying and working in the States from 2014 until 2016. In February 2016, her work visa was about to expire and she decided to go back to Taiwan rather than extend her visa (she didn't see a future working at this particular company), in order to spend time with her family whom she hadn't seen in a few years. However, seeing as our relationship was going really well, she planned on coming back to the US on a VWP to spend more together.

She arrived at LAX at 9pm on 5/25/16. I waited at the arrivals gate for hours, long past the normal time it should have taken for someone to get through customs. As I feared, she had gotten pulled into secondary inspection. Finally, I saw her come out the arrival gates at around 3AM....after I'd been waiting for six hours in the lobby without any information or guidance from the LAX security officers. ("All you can do is wait", is the only thing I was told).

She was exhausted and crying. Apparently she had been brought into secondary inspection, and was grilled and berated about what she was doing in the States. One CBP officer in especially rude particular yelled and screamed profanities at her repeatedly.


Anyways, to get to the main point of the problem: They had initially stamped her passport with the 90-day VWP expiration date, but later on crossed it out and voided the stamp. Anyway, I guess they eventually let her through, but said that its "best she leave as soon as possible".

We had a whole trip planned and scheduled, and now its ruined due to this news. My question is...since they voided her VWP stamp, how long can she actually stay in the US? No new expiration date was verbally given to her, nor any additional stamping or indication on her passport of when she is supposed to leave.

Is there any way to verify when she has to leave by? We don't want to jeopardize any chances for her to get through customs in the future by overstaying. Also, is there anything we can do about how she was poorly treated at customs?

Any insight or advice would be really helpful -[/QUOTE]