Do we get a new I94 and extension if you travel out of US to UK and be come back

[itzdinu]

My father is on a Visitor Visa (B2) and his 6 months of I94 expires on Sept 27th 2012. We have relatives in UK that have requested my father to visit them. He does have UK visa until Sept 23rd 2012. If he travels to UK and stays there for 15 days and comes back to US then can he get a new extension for another six months? This way could we avoid filing for I539 (Extension of Visitor Visa)? Any help in this matter is much appreciated.

Thanks
-Dinu

[mickey_mouse]

My father is on a Visitor Visa (B2) and his 6 months of I94 expires on Sept 27th 2012. We have relatives in UK that have requested my father to visit them. He does have UK visa until Sept 23rd 2012. If he travels to UK and stays there for 15 days and comes back to US then can he get a new extension for another six months? This way could we avoid filing for I539 (Extension of Visitor Visa)? Any help in this matter is much appreciated.

Thanks
-Dinu

This questions has been asked here many, many, many times before. Use the search function.

In short: he can go to the UK and come back. He will either be denied entry, sent back to India, and his visa may be cancelled - or if he's lucky he will be admitted but for a very short stay - say, a couple weeks or a month.

Rule of thumb is: you have to stay in your country 2x the time you spent in the US before coming back again. So if he stayed here for six months, he should go back to India for at least a year.

[itzdinu]

This questions has been asked here many, many, many times before. Use the search function.

In short: he can go to the UK and come back. He will either be denied entry, sent back to India, and his visa may be cancelled - or if he's lucky he will be admitted but for a very short stay - say, a couple weeks or a month.

Rule of thumb is: you have to stay in your country 2x the time you spent in the US before coming back again. So if he stayed here for six months, he should go back to India for at least a year.

The six months of stay ends on Sept 28th 2012 (so he is still got 40 + days remaining on his current I 94). He was planning to go to UK on his way back to India but for some unforeseen circumstances he has to come back to US and apply for Visa Extension. I see your point that at POE it is all luck and completely at the discretion of the officer. So we take that risk by sending him before his I 94 expires. We are not trying to beat the system but we are planning to send him to UK for medical reasons and also family visit (thats all) and his UK Visa expires on 09/23/2012. We will be happy to file for an extension of Visa here and go through the proper process.

Mean while is it possible that we apply for his I 94 extension and then can he go since the case is in pending status? What is our safe bet?

Thanks
-Dinu

[mickey_mouse]

The six months of stay ends on Sept 28th 2012 (so he is still got 40 + days remaining on his current I 94). He was planning to go to UK on his way back to India but for some unforeseen circumstances he has to come back to US and apply for Visa Extension. I see your point that at POE it is all luck and completely at the discretion of the officer. So we take that risk by sending him before his I 94 expires. We are not trying to beat the system but we are planning to send him to UK for medical reasons and also family visit (thats all) and his UK Visa expires on 09/23/2012. We will be happy to file for an extension of Visa here and go through the proper process.

Mean while is it possible that we apply for his I 94 extension and then can he go since the case is in pending status? What is our safe bet?

Thanks
-Dinu

I'm not 100% sure you understand how this works . . .

When he entered the US he was given an authorized period of stay - X. That means he can stay up to X days - but in no way he gets a "credit" if he leaves before X - ie, if he got 180 days and he only uses 140 days, he doesn't have a 40 days credit on his account. If he leaves and then comes back, he may get another 180 days (extremely unlikely), he may get 30 days (possible) or he may be denied entry (likely).

Applying for an extension is that - extending his *current* stay. If he leaves while the extension is under processing, the extension is then void - so it makes no sense to apply for such extension.

There's no safe bet. If he leaves and then tries to come back, be prepared for him to be sent back immediately - and with the possibility of his visa being cancelled. The only safe bet is for him to stay until the expiration of his I94 and then leave for home for good.

[itzdinu]

Thank you. This makes very much sense and very good explanation.

I'm not 100% sure you understand how this works . . .

When he entered the US he was given an authorized period of stay - X. That means he can stay up to X days - but in no way he gets a "credit" if he leaves before X - ie, if he got 180 days and he only uses 140 days, he doesn't have a 40 days credit on his account. If he leaves and then comes back, he may get another 180 days (extremely unlikely), he may get 30 days (possible) or he may be denied entry (likely).

Applying for an extension is that - extending his *current* stay. If he leaves while the extension is under processing, the extension is then void - so it makes no sense to apply for such extension.

There's no safe bet. If he leaves and then tries to come back, be prepared for him to be sent back immediately - and with the possibility of his visa being cancelled. The only safe bet is for him to stay until the expiration of his I94 and then leave for home for good.

Thank you. This makes very much sense and a very clear and good explanation. We will apply for his extension and if he gets approved he will stay otherwise he will leave immediately. I see that there is USEUL site where we can apply the extension online.