VWP/ESTA re-entry immediately after F1 expires

[jasonl 0]

Hi there VJ folks,

First off thanks for all the great information and wonderful support on this site. The community here is really impressive and I am excited to get involved. My Ecuadorian fiancé and I have a long road of immigration experiences ahead of us and knowing that we can help and get help here is so comforting.

We have a relatively basic question to get started. My fiancé has been here on a F1 Visa studying for the last three years. She graduates in May and has 60 days after that to leave the country. We are planning on getting married in summer 2013 and will be traveling throughout Latin America between now and then - but would like to stay in the US throughout this summer, while I make a bit more money for the travels. She is a dual citizen of a European Visa Waiver Program (VWP) country and Ecuador and has a valid passport to each although she has never lived in or visited the EU country. Our question is, if we want to stay here past her 60 day grace period, could we simply go to Canada or Mexico for short trip, apply for an ESTA and come directly back over the boarder for the 90 days that the VWP allows?

As far as the actual VWP rules go, it doesn't seem like there would be any issue, but my worry is that the POE officers on the way back over might feel it was a bit fishy based on how recently she left and I guess I just don't know how much weight the EU passport and ESTA carry in that type of situation. Honestly, I don't feel like it is fishy at all - she is VWP and thus, as long as she qualifies for ESTA, she should be treated just like any other VWP visitor. Another consideration is that, while we won't be getting married or attempting a status change during the trip, she does not have a lease, job, etc. in Ecuador and ZERO ties to the EU VWP country. Her family in EC is pretty well off, so she can show some kind of record of general assets there but nothing too strong.

So, the question is - can anyone see a regulatory or POE officer reason that we can't leave the country, get an ESTA and return a week or so later? If so, is there anything we can do to make it work?

Thanks a ton and look forward to hearing your thoughts:)

Jason

[redsnap 13]

Hi there VJ folks,

First off thanks for all the great information and wonderful support on this site. The community here is really impressive and I am excited to get involved. My Ecuadorian fiancé and I have a long road of immigration experiences ahead of us and knowing that we can help and get help here is so comforting.

We have a relatively basic question to get started. My fiancé has been here on a F1 Visa studying for the last three years. She graduates in May and has 60 days after that to leave the country. We are planning on getting married in summer 2013 and will be traveling throughout Latin America between now and then - but would like to stay in the US throughout this summer, while I make a bit more money for the travels. She is a dual citizen of a European Visa Waiver Program (VWP) country and Ecuador and has a valid passport to each although she has never lived in or visited the EU country. Our question is, if we want to stay here past her 60 day grace period, could we simply go to Canada or Mexico for short trip, apply for an ESTA and come directly back over the boarder for the 90 days that the VWP allows?

As far as the actual VWP rules go, it doesn't seem like there would be any issue, but my worry is that the POE officers on the way back over might feel it was a bit fishy based on how recently she left and I guess I just don't know how much weight the EU passport and ESTA carry in that type of situation. Honestly, I don't feel like it is fishy at all - she is VWP and thus, as long as she qualifies for ESTA, she should be treated just like any other VWP visitor. Another consideration is that, while we won't be getting married or attempting a status change during the trip, she does not have a lease, job, etc. in Ecuador and ZERO ties to the EU VWP country. Her family in EC is pretty well off, so she can show some kind of record of general assets there but nothing too strong.

So, the question is - can anyone see a regulatory or POE officer reason that we can't leave the country, get an ESTA and return a week or so later? If so, is there anything we can do to make it work?

Thanks a ton and look forward to hearing your thoughts:)

Jason

There is no way on earth anyone could predict what the POE officer will say... I come from a VWP country myself, and I never really had a problem, but I also never really had a "fishy" situation going on....

Once a female POE officer grilled me for some time, asking me a ton of questions, but still approved me. And also I traveled to see my husband in the US after we got married, but before we started the visa process. But that was no problem...

In my opinion I think using the VWP might be a little difficult, since she has no permanent address in the EU country she's got a passport from and she's also using it shortly after her visa run out... This might raise a red flag, but doesn't have to... I think it's important to not lie to the POE officer and be open about plans. And the ESTA and VWP do not guarantee the entry, a denial is always possible, since the POE officer has the last word...

This is only my opinion and others might be more helpful...

[jasonl 0]

Thanks so much for the quick reply Redsnap. Really appreciate your insights and glad to hear that you have not met too many difficulties with your crossings.

The general unpredictability of the POE officers definitely seems to be a running theme throughout the dozens of threads I've read here. In general it seems like coming in on VWP has a very high success rate but again, this situation has a couple other variables.

I guess a good general question that might be a bit more specific is: As a dual citizen of both VWP and non-VWP country - if you are asked to show some kind of proof that you don't intend to stay - does the proof need to be related to the country who's passport you are entering with or could you have some totally unrelated proof - like a job in an entirely different country that you had to get back to, a lease in another place entirely, etc. My guess is that the latter is fine as long as it actually seems like you have obligations to go to ANYWHERE in the world that is not the United States. However, I have ZERO experience with VWP, so this is entirely based on what I've read here and on .gov websites... If the idea of any legitimate external obligations being sufficient proof of intents holds water with the folks here, we might have some ground to stand on just by bringing along a folder documenting every asset and connection she has in Ecuador and documents showing our plans to travel outside the US, a wedding invitation for 2013, etc.

Thanks again for the thoughts Redsnap and would love to hear more of your thoughts or about your experiences or those of anyone else.

Jason

There is no way on earth anyone could predict what the POE officer will say... I come from a VWP country myself, and I never really had a problem, but I also never really had a "fishy" situation going on....

Once a female POE officer grilled me for some time, asking me a ton of questions, but still approved me. And also I traveled to see my husband in the US after we got married, but before we started the visa process. But that was no problem...

In my opinion I think using the VWP might be a little difficult, since she has no permanent address in the EU country she's got a passport from and she's also using it shortly after her visa run out... This might raise a red flag, but doesn't have to... I think it's important to not lie to the POE officer and be open about plans. And the ESTA and VWP do not guarantee the entry, a denial is always possible, since the POE officer has the last word...

This is only my opinion and others might be more helpful...