Professional Athlete on Visa Waiver Program needing help...

[triatleten 0]

Hi All,

My partner, a London 2012 Olympic triathlete from Denmark has been in the U.S since February on a Visa Waiver Program. Her 90 days is due to expire this coming Tuesday where she has a flight booked to return to Denmark. Her plan has always been to return to Denmark for around 10 - 14 days in the mean time having an interview for a 6 month B1 visa application. However we now have a problem...

The problem we have is that she has a severe allergy to birch pollen. This allergy was only diagnosed in May of last year, with birch pollen currently being so high in most European countries including Denmark it will be a suicide move on her career to expose her to this birch pollen for 10 - 14 days. It can have a 1 - 2 month implication on her sporting performance throughout the year.

So the question we are trying to get answered is, can she fly out of the U.S on Tuesday, land in a European country for around 24 hours or less and return to the U.S on Wednesday/Thursday with no problems or implications by U.S Customs, she is very likely to not leave the airport she arrives in. Will she then have a new valid 90 day period granted to her before having to leave the U.S again?

Her ESTA is valid until mid June. We struggle to find anywhere that provides information of how long you actually have to leave the U.S for when travelling on an ESTA, as much as we don't want to return within a 24 - 48 hour period it will be in the absolute best interests of her career.

Really appreciate some feedback on this, we feel a little lost as it is the weekend. We have called the Danish consulate in Florida and they actually said the words we don't know! They informed us to call the Danish consulate in New York on Monday but if it turns out that it is fine to return within 24 - 48 hours she would actually probably fly ASAP in order to get back and continue training and preparing for the upcoming U.S triathlon season.

Thanks

Ben Powell

www.hellefrederiksen.com

[Ryan H 3,828]

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would be the agency you want to pose your question to. Consular personnel of other countries may not be very familiar with CBP procedures so the answer of "I don't know" that you received from a Danish Consulate in Florida is not surprising.

[triatleten 0]

Is there any possible way I can contact a CBP office now and get the question answered, as soon as we get the question answered we can continue onwards and plan. Orlando International Airport doesn't pick up or respond when I try and call.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Since she is from an EU country, her ability to travel throughout the world is better than most people's. Why not have her go to the Carribean or some other country rather than returning to Denmark? I would try to remain outside the US a bit longer or the CBP people will refuse her entry on the grounds that she is spending more time in the US than out. Maybe she could go to Canada for a few weeks and then return to the US.

Good luck,

Dave

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Is she training here? Because there are athlete visas.

The VWP is nice, but there are no extensions, it is just for tourism, there is no changing status, and you can see that it can lead to problems when trying to use it for longer periods.

A full 90-day stay followed by another full 90-day stay will probably cause some extra scrutiny.

It's possible she'll be let in, and possible she won't. If she had an athlete visa or something more appropriate than she'd be more protected.

So why is she here?

[triatleten 0]

Really appreciate all the feedback on this.

She came to the U.S on a training camp with her squad of international athletes with only a number of races planned, the intentions were never really to stay longer than the 90 days. However a number of major international results have put a whole new perspective on primarily basing herself out of the U.S on a longer term basis. The overall plan is to get an athlete visa but currently with the birch pollen in Denmark and other European countries it is firstly a case of avoiding this birch and returning to the U.S. This discussion would not be necessary if the birch pollen was non-exsistent at this point in time. However we need to prioritise her contact with this pollen to ensure she continue her early season success. Once this has been done we can then look into all the other permanent/longer period visa application when the pollen count has subsided in mid June/early July.

Priority number one is returning to the U.S on an Visa Waiver Program in as little time as possible, whilst avoiding any contact with birch pollen.

Something tells me Canada and the Carribean require a 30 day period before you can return to the U.S for a new 90 day renewal.

[Harsh_77 718]

She can apply for athele visa but finishing one 90 day period and return to some European airport and return back on the flight within 24-48 hrs would not grant her another 90 day period in US.

99% she would be refused entry at POE.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Really appreciate all the feedback on this.

She came to the U.S on a training camp with her squad of international athletes with only a number of races planned, the intentions were never really to stay longer than the 90 days. However a number of major international results have put a whole new perspective on primarily basing herself out of the U.S on a longer term basis. The overall plan is to get an athlete visa but currently with the birch pollen in Denmark and other European countries it is firstly a case of avoiding this birch and returning to the U.S. This discussion would not be necessary if the birch pollen was non-exsistent at this point in time. However we need to prioritise her contact with this pollen to ensure she continue her early season success. Once this has been done we can then look into all the other permanent/longer period visa application when the pollen count has subsided in mid June/early July.

Priority number one is returning to the U.S on an Visa Waiver Program in as little time as possible, whilst avoiding any contact with birch pollen.

Something tells me Canada and the Carribean require a 30 day period before you can return to the U.S for a new 90 day renewal.

She will be required to present a visa for that purpose. She will not be allowed to enter the US on VWP to circumvent that. In the end she may lose her VWP privileges. She should start by contacting the Dannish OC in order to sort out her options.

good luck!

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

It depends on the officer at the border- even if you can contact CBP somehow or an embassy, you may get a different answer if she tries to board a flight.

You may get lucky and get another 90 days, but chances are no.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Is there no treatment available for birch tree allergies in Denmark? It is a fairly common allergy.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Is there no treatment available for birch tree allergies in Denmark? It is a fairly common allergy.

I am sure there are treatments that work pretty well, but for an elite athlete even a 5% decrease in capacity or less makes all the difference.

I do get the desire to avoid allergies, but as I see it the wrong way to travel was chosen in the first place, because she is left unprotected, no changes of status, no extensions.

We can't tell you what will happen. With an Olympic athlete maybe the CBP will go easy on her and give her another 90 days. Nothing is guaranteed though, that's the thing. The proper visa would protect her and give her some more assurances.

[Teddy B 17,252]

I am sure there are treatments that work pretty well, but for an elite athlete even a 5% decrease in capacity or less makes all the difference.

I do get the desire to avoid allergies, but as I see it the wrong way to travel was chosen in the first place, because she is left unprotected, no changes of status, no extensions.

We can't tell you what will happen. With an Olympic athlete maybe the CBP will go easy on her and give her another 90 days. Nothing is guaranteed though, that's the thing. The proper visa would protect her and give her some more assurances.

Birch trees are one of the most common trees in the US, makes me wonder what the difference is between Birch allergies here and Birch allergies in Denmark.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Birch trees are one of the most common trees in the US, makes me wonder what the difference is between Birch allergies here and Birch allergies in Denmark.

Don't know myself, but trees have different varieties. There is the American elm, chinese elm, etc. I just looked on wikipedia about birches and there are different species indigenous to Europe and the North America.

The difference between winning and losing for an elite athlete is the difference between millions of dollars and nothing. Having been in an elite category for something in the past I do know how serious people take things, but that is why I think coming here on an unprotected visa status was a bad move... but what's done is done.

All this talk about birches makes me want birch beer.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Harpa Timsah