Visa approved. Now what?

[Columto 0]

Does one need to coordinate plane ticket purchases with the specified travel dates submitted on the visa application? For instance, is it acceptable to buy a return ticket for 3-6 months out and stay that long if the stated travel length on the application is one month? 

 

Also, once at POE, what happens if the officer grants less time than the span of the arrival and departure tickets? Is the traveler simply out the money needed to modify the return ticket date? 

[CEE53147 559]

You should expect to leave prior to the departure date specified upon entry even if you have tickets beyond that date.  Extensions of stay should be used when necessary and not simply to avoid the cost of changing airline reservations. The US government would certainly not reimburse you for the cost of your ticket modifications.

 

Before you decide to stay longer than you originally stated you planned to stay remember that even if you are granted a longer stay (and you are certainly welcome to stay that long), your application and travel history will remain in your file.  Looking as though you have been less than truthful could affect future visa applications.  Remember it is far worse to lie to US immigration than to tell the truth and suffer the consequences.

[KULtoATL 1,551]

13 hours ago, Columto said:

Does one need to coordinate plane ticket purchases with the specified travel dates submitted on the visa application? For instance, is it acceptable to buy a return ticket for 3-6 months out and stay that long if the stated travel length on the application is one month? 

 

Also, once at POE, what happens if the officer grants less time than the span of the arrival and departure tickets? Is the traveler simply out the money needed to modify the return ticket date? 

The dates on one's B1/B2 visa application are tentative. Also, the US embassy website generally advises one to only purchase their air tickets upon receiving an approved visa. So anyways, your actual travel dates can differ from the tentative dates mentioned in your application.

 

What's really important is that you do not stay past the date that's stated on the passport stamp. Usually one gets a stamp that's good for 6 months per visit but some might get less than 6 months.

 

At this point, obviously we can't speculate how much time the POE officer would grant you. If you're afraid that your stamp might be less than the 3 months or 6 months of your intended stay, then best is to buy changeable and refundable tickets. Cheap or promo tickets do not generally allow that and you might have to buy a fresh new ticket and forfeit the original.

 

My personal advice, if you're entering as a tourist on a B2, it might be a better idea to not stay for such a long time per trip because it might arouse suspicion of wanting to overstay. Best of luck.