Visitor's Visa

[Mcqueen 0]

Hello.

I have a question about visitor's visa.

I am married to an American Citizen and we were living in Japan when the huge earthquake hit Japan on March 11th, 2011.

After the earthquake, me and my husband were afraid of the radiation influence on our baby (a year old then) so we left Japan and came to the US.

Because it was all of a sudden, we did not have any time to apply for my visa or my child's citizenship.

Therefor we came to the US with the visitor's visa and stayed here for 3months.

After the 3months, we went back to Japan because the visitor's visa allows you to stay in America only for 90days.

So my child and I stayed in Japan for a week and came back to the US.

I managed to go through the immigration at the airport even though the immigration officer did not like the fact that I came back with the visitor's visa.

Now I have been here for almost 3months and it is time for me to go back home again, but I still need to come back AGAIN in a month or so.

I know for sure that the immigration will stop me from entering the US this time.

So here is my question, if you renew your passport and get a new passport number and enter the US, will the immigration officer know about your travelling history?

How would they know that you stayed in the US for total of 180days before, if you have a different passport?

Is there any way that I can come back with my child and enter the US without any problem when I come back from Japan next month?

It would be very nice if I can stay away from Japan for 3 more months because of the radiation situation. I just want to be away as long as we could.

I do not want anything bad happening to my child in the future.

Thanks,

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Why don't you file for permanent residency in the US and live here? A new passport will not make living here on a tourist visa any easier. I doubt they would let you come back a third time.

[Mcqueen 0]

Why don't you file for permanent residency in the US and live here? A new passport will not make living here on a tourist visa any easier. I doubt they would let you come back a third time.

Thanks for your quick reply.

We want to go back to Japan and live there eventually. it has been 6months after the earthquake and people are not too afraid of the radiation anymore in my home town which is like 120miles away from the nuclear plant.

3more months to stay in America is all I want. And my husband got a job recently and he has to stay here and work for our financial reason for at least 6more months. If I go back and not be able to come back, my husband won't be able to see his son for 6months and it is a long time, especially for a baby. kids grow fast. So I would like to come back and have my family live together as long as we could. (Plus there are so many weird things happening in the world. earthquakes everywhere in the world, typhoon and flood too.)

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I still suggest you apply for permanent residency. You are abusing your Visa Waive Program privileges by using it to live in the US. I am fairly certain they will not let you back a third time. Apply for permanent residency (a Greencard) and then you can abandon it formally when you don't want to live here any more. That is the only way to keep your family together in the US.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Thanks for your quick reply.

We want to go back to Japan and live there eventually. it has been 6months after the earthquake and people are not too afraid of the radiation anymore in my home town which is like 120miles away from the nuclear plant.

3more months to stay in America is all I want. And my husband got a job recently and he has to stay here and work for our financial reason for at least 6more months. If I go back and not be able to come back, my husband won't be able to see his son for 6months and it is a long time, especially for a baby. kids grow fast. So I would like to come back and have my family live together as long as we could. (Plus there are so many weird things happening in the world. earthquakes everywhere in the world, typhoon and flood too.)

Why not live in a different part of Japan, th whole of Japan was not affected. You CANNOT keep playing the abuse the sytem game with your vistior visa, before you will be denied entry with a ban on you.

[canadian_wife 1,823]

They will absolutly know that you have traveled to the US before, even if a new passport is issued. A new travel record is not created with a new passport. For obvious security reasons, they link the passports together - on a recent entrance to the US I got asked about my travel history to Israel...that happened in 1997.

Since you have been basically living in the US thus far, I'd honestly expect a more difficult time trying to enter in the future. Although protecting your child is important, you must also follow US immigration laws.

Good luck

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Hello.

I have a question about visitor's visa.

I am married to an American Citizen and we were living in Japan when the huge earthquake hit Japan on March 11th, 2011.

After the earthquake, me and my husband were afraid of the radiation influence on our baby (a year old then) so we left Japan and came to the US.

Because it was all of a sudden, we did not have any time to apply for my visa or my child's citizenship.

Therefor we came to the US with the visitor's visa and stayed here for 3months.

After the 3months, we went back to Japan because the visitor's visa allows you to stay in America only for 90days.

So my child and I stayed in Japan for a week and came back to the US.

I managed to go through the immigration at the airport even though the immigration officer did not like the fact that I came back with the visitor's visa.

Now I have been here for almost 3months and it is time for me to go back home again, but I still need to come back AGAIN in a month or so.

I know for sure that the immigration will stop me from entering the US this time.

So here is my question, if you renew your passport and get a new passport number and enter the US, will the immigration officer know about your travelling history? Yes. You will need to disclose your prior visits and information about your prior passports. The IO at the POE will also have access to a database of your past visits to the US.

How would they know that you stayed in the US for total of 180days before, if you have a different passport? Computer database with your past visits.

Is there any way that I can come back with my child and enter the US without any problem when I come back from Japan next month? No. You're abusing the VWP by using it to live in the US. You can be refused entry.

It would be very nice if I can stay away from Japan for 3 more months because of the radiation situation. I just want to be away as long as we could.

I do not want anything bad happening to my child in the future.

Thanks,

Are you declaring your child is a US citizen during your past entries? A US citizen must have a US passport to enter the US. A US citizen cannot use the VWP. If you are declaring that your child is a Japanese citizen, you may be creating a problem in the future when you try to assert US citizenship for your child since you are not identifying him as US citizen.

Edited September 10, 2011 by Jojo92122

[AmyWrites 593]

Why not go to another country instead for three months? Canada?

[Mcqueen 0]

They will absolutly know that you have traveled to the US before, even if a new passport is issued. A new travel record is not created with a new passport. For obvious security reasons, they link the passports together - on a recent entrance to the US I got asked about my travel history to Israel...that happened in 1997.

Since you have been basically living in the US thus far, I'd honestly expect a more difficult time trying to enter in the future. Although protecting your child is important, you must also follow US immigration laws.

Good luck

Thank you very much for answering my question!

I guess I will have to apply for my green card here in order to stay here longer.

Thanks again!

Are you declaring your child is a US citizen during your past entries? A US citizen must have a US passport to enter the US. A US citizen cannot use the VWP. If you are declaring that your child is a Japanese citizen, you may be creating a problem in the future when you try to assert US citizenship for your child since you are not identifying him as US citizen.

Thanks for your reply!

I understand completely.

I do not want any complication for my child in the future with his citizenship and what not. I will talk to my husband and figure it out.

Thanks again!

Edited September 10, 2011 by Mcqueen

[Dadoc 0]

Another thing to be concerned about is taxes. Once you have been staying in the US longer than 180 days per calendar year you may be subject to paying taxes in both countries since the IRS (and possibly the state that you are staying in) can claim taxes based on you technically spending most of the year there and being a "resident". This will likely come up sometime later when you least expect it with other fines and fees added! Can you say...