B2 Visa length of stay and return

[Tradewind 6]

My wife received a B2 visa and they gave her 6 months to stay. When she leaves the country, how soon can she return?. Is there a certain length of time in months a person can be in the states in a given year (2nd question) She plans to stay 5 months and then return after a month out for 5 more months. I would like to know please, Thanks for your replies.

[Dan C. 18]

I don't know for sure, but I don't think there's a minimum time that she'll have to stay outside the US before she can return.

It may look suspicious if she stayed for six months, left the country for a day, and then came back in. But if she stays out of the country for a month, I'd guess that she'd be fine.

Is this a border crossing card?

[dustingthestars 9]

It's highly likely that she could be refused at POE due to the fact that it appears as though she's using the B2 as a de-facto immigration tool - she would essentially be 'living' in the US on a visitors visa. I think the US has a right to be suspicious of any person that spends more time in the US than their 'own' country on a non-immigration visa.

Others will no doubt come along and share their own thoughts on the matter.

Edited March 7, 2012 by dustingthestars

[jaycali 415]

My wife received a B2 visa and they gave her 6 months to stay. When she leaves the country, how soon can she return?. Is there a certain length of time in months a person can be in the states in a given year (2nd question) She plans to stay 5 months and then return after a month out for 5 more months. I would like to know please, Thanks for your replies.

There are no specific rules as to how long she has to stay outside the country before she can return. Generally, one should spend more time outside the US than in the US.

However,

The purpose of the B-2 visa is for visits and tourism only. At the POE she has to convince the CBP officer that she intends to do just that, visit/tourism. That will be difficult if she stays for 5 months, then returns a month later for a new 5 months. The CBP officer will most likely wonder:

1. How is she paying for all this traveling? Red flags here are: Does she have money to stay, or will she work illegally?

2. Who stays in the US for 10 months out of the year as a tourist/visitor?

3. If you are a US citizen, they might assume she'll try to adjust status once in the US.

On top of this, there's the obvious problem that she's spending more time in the US than in her home country.

I would be surprised if she was able to return for another 5 months after one month at home. That being said, if you've filed an I-130 petition, a denial at POE for a tourist visa will not affect the outcome of your petition or her future immigrant visa.

[aaydrian 479]

My wife received a B2 visa and they gave her 6 months to stay. When she leaves the country, how soon can she return?. Is there a certain length of time in months a person can be in the states in a given year (2nd question) She plans to stay 5 months and then return after a month out for 5 more months. I would like to know please, Thanks for your replies.

The thing with at least the visa your referring to is that despite your wife getting 6 months in the US, officials expect her to be out before that. I guess that's because a typical vacationer spends between a week and 3 months tops considering that that person has to get back to family, school or work.

If in fact your wife spends about 6 months and the re-enters for a another 3-4 months in 1 calendar year, officials at the POE will become suspicious of your wife. She may then be denied entry to the US based on their own cognizance because they think she is not using the B2 visa the way it is intended to.

[Tradewind 6]

There are no specific rules as to how long she has to stay outside the country before she can return. Generally, one should spend more time outside the US than in the US.

However,

The purpose of the B-2 visa is for visits and tourism only. At the POE she has to convince the CBP officer that she intends to do just that, visit/tourism. That will be difficult if she stays for 5 months, then returns a month later for a new 5 months. The CBP officer will most likely wonder:

1. How is she paying for all this traveling? Red flags here are: Does she have money to stay, or will she work illegally?

2. Who stays in the US for 10 months out of the year as a tourist/visitor?

3. If you are a US citizen, they might assume she'll try to adjust status once in the US.

On top of this, there's the obvious problem that she's spending more time in the US than in her home country.

I would be surprised if she was able to return for another 5 months after one month at home. That being said, if you've filed an I-130 petition, a denial at POE for a tourist visa will not affect the outcome of your petition or her future immigrant visa.

She would not be working or doing anything illegal

The times are not set in stone, I just wanted to get the question out

She is my wife so I would be paying.

We have a house in California so we want to split our time there.

If she immigrates then she has to spend at least 6 months in the USA, not sure about that year after year.

We like Central America but not ready to move to the USA permanently, but Jungle fever drives me back to the USA year after year

We do not want to do anything that will violate her B2 Visa, we value it very much. It is for 5 years and thats great.

We are thinking about her immigrating but her first visit to the USA is now. We will see.

Central America is a lot cheaper in many ways. Lots of questions.

Thanks for your reply.