northerncalirob

We understood that. It could be that they did not record that you were supposed to leave early. But it is a very iffy situation.

IMO she should put together TONS of proof of ties to Canada and try to cross. Most likely she will be fine. But she should be ready to get denied. Which, by the way, is not a big deal. It just means that they don't let you into the country then.

I am a Canadian with a USC spouse. I crossed the border and was denied because I didn't have proof of ties. The next day I went through the border succesfully with all neccessary papers.

thanks for your reply. she has all of her proof together, lease, pay stubs, bills, bank acct. we just want a little further clarity, from your point of view, concerning her last visit, the one where she had a 2 week round trip plane ticket and ended up staying around 4 months before returning to canada, where she has been living and working for the last 6 months. the last time through the officer told her that she should return to canada in 2 weeks but didn't stamp anything indicating that in her passport, nor was she given a separate form stating so. she was going to return but as we looked into it, and posted in this forum, people tols us that the officer would have had to either stamp her passport stating such or have given her a form that would have needed to be signed above exiting the country at the two week mark, both of which she didn't have, just the verbal statement, which people said is often a scare tactic but not binding...what are your thoughts on that? her proof this time around is perfect, legit, etc. and it has been well over 6 months since she crossed last... thanks for your insights.....we just want to be as best informed as possible for her next crossing.

just to be clear, she didn't overstay the visa, which is 6 months, she stayed longer than the 2 weeks her plane ticket was for, and there was no stamp, what so ever in her passport concerning a date to exit, which is customary, i believe. thanks for the replies, hope to hear from more of you.

Hello,

I am writing on behave of my Canadian girlfriend who is coming to visit me in about 2 weeks. we want to hear what people have to say about our situation. here is some background, she is a 24 year old woman who started coming to the states about 2 years ago, while traveling. she had no problem the first time coming. when she wanted to come the next time, after only spending 2 months back in canada, and crossing on land, she was denied. they said she didn't have enough money for the time she was planning on spending in the states. she was told to produce facts that she lived in canada, lease, job, etc. she was told she was red flagged as well in the system. well, she went back home, got paperwork together and went to cross again. she was let in, but given a verbal warning to leave when her ticket said she would leave, which was 3 weeks. she stayed longer, because there was no stamp in her passport and it was just a verbal scare tactic it seems. she stayed for 4 months and when she returned to canada after the 4 month stay no one said anything, all was fine, which was the last time she was in the states. now, this time, she has been living in canada, renting and working for over 6 months now and wants to come for a visit in a few weeks. question: is there anything to worry about? should she still bring with her documentation, like her lease, pay stubs, etc? any advice, any issues anyone sees, anything you can tell us would be helpful. thank you

No I-94 or no passport stamp equals no certain return date. If she was not given an I-94 and there is no stamp in her passport, then she does not have to return in 10 days. The CBP can't tell you something verbally and expect it to hold up, you must be given an I-94 for anything less than 6 months as a Canadian citizen.

My wife was denied entry once by CBP, once she got the papers needed to enter the US she was verbally told that she needs to return to Canada by the date on her return plane ticket that was 30 days later. Turns out all that was is a verbal scare tactic. We contacted an immigration attorney and she said no I-94 or passport stamp means no set return date. My wife ended up staying the full 6 months, we decided to get married and AOS, everything went fine.

If you want to make sure of this, call CBP.

Thanks for your reply. She definitely did not receive an I-94 (no forms at all) and nothing at all was stamped in her passport, just the verbal warning. In fact, it sounds pretty much like what your wife went through. We really appreciate your input.....

She won;t be deported or anything, and having ties next time she tries to enter will definitely help, but she may still face problems due to having been told to only stay 10 days. If you wanted to play it safe, she could leave after ten days and then re-enter a week or two later, hoping to just be let in. But, you know, there is also a chance the CBP officer just said that and it's not in the computer at all, especially if nothing is in the passport and no paperwork was given to her.

Thank you for your prompt replies....it sets are minds at ease.

Chances are a note was left on the computer, as the previous poster said. Ie no ban, but if she stays longer than the ten days, she may have difficulty entering next time as they don't believe she will follow the directions given.

As an aside, are you sure she has a B2 and is not just travelling under her Canadian passport, which usually does not require a visa? Is she a Canadian citizen and if so, why is she travelling on a visa? Was there issues before these two times?

Thank you for the reply. Actually, you are right, she is not travelling under any visa (b-2 or otherwise). She is simply a Canadian citizen traveling with her passport. She never had any issues before the one mentioned two weeks ago, when trying to enter by land. The officer didn't think she was traveling with enough money and questioned how long she was staying for, with the amount of money she had. She has been in the states, earlier this year, for a total of 2 months, but never had any issues with traveling before the one in New York. She came to the states the last two times with only one-way plane tickets as well, without any issues.

Our plan as this point is for her to stay for 5 months or so (definitely within the 180 day window) and then we are both going to go back to Canada and stay there for a while, so that she can establish a residence there and obtain a job. We may stay as long as 6 months in Canada before attempting to return to the U.S. Does that sort of time frame, staying in Canada for 6 months with a job and lease, sound like a legitimate way of trying to re-establish her ties there....even though she will be over-staying this 10 day restriction right now?

My girlfriend arrived on Sept. 18th from Canada (2nd attempt). She tried to cross the border 2 weeks ago, on land, to New York, but she was denied, basically because the officer didn't think she was traveling with enough money for her stay and she couldn't prove ties to Canada. She was fingerprinted and sent back to Canada. She returned home and gathered documentation, i.e- her lease, rental payments, IRS tax return, bank account statement, etc. and then purchased a $700 round trip ticket to san francisco, where she arrived 7 days ago.

We were not sure how long she was going to stay, and were afraid she would be denied again, so her round trip ticket was for 10 days (18th until the 29th of sept.), although she can change the return date at any time, without payment, due to the insurance that she purchased.

So, when she arrived on the 18th, she passed customs but they told her she MUST return in 10 days. HOWEVER, the custom officer just told her 'verbally' that she must return in 10 days BUT did not stamp her passport at all, with anything. Her passport was scanned and she passed through. Are b-2 restricted visas of this short nature (10 days) able to be put on electronically without an actual stamp in the passport? And if so:

If she stays longer than 10 days, but does not stay longer than 180 days total, what would be the consequences? I know the usual scenario is if a person overstays their visa for 180 days or more there is an automatic 3 year ban, and if they overstay their visa for over a year, it is an automatic 10 year ban, so by this logic I would think if she overstayed her 10 day restricted b-2 BUT did so for less than 180 days she would receive no automatic ban, she may simply have more difficulty reentering the next time, i.e- have to tell them she overstayed, etc. and be at the mercy of the officer at hand. Is this a correct assessment, or not? Does the fact that an officer verbally told her SHE MUST EXIT IN 10 DAYS disqualify the assessment above, or does it still stand, mainly that as long as she does not stay in the us over 180 days, the staying beyond her 10 day restricted visa, would simply make it more difficult to enter again, which is not good obviously, but would not fall into the category of an automatic ban of any length?

Thank you for your reply. And please, if you have the time, please be as thorough in answering the question as possible, because i have read many threads on many forums but have not heard this exact scenario clearly answered (mostly surrounding the fact that a very short, 15 day restriction (b-2) was stamped in her passport)