Flight cancelled and delayed.

[Kernderg 1]

Hello!

First post here, so I'm sorry if it's in the wrong place, this VWP thing is confusing me greatly.

So to make a long story short: I spent 89 days in America (travelling from the UK under the VWP) earlier this year, spending time with my fiancee.

I made sure to have a departure date before the 90 days I'm entitled to, as I've heard many a horror story about overstays.

Come the 89th day, I went to the airport and my flight was late by several hours. By the time it arrived and I landed in Atlanta it was midnight.

My next flight was cancelled (due to bad weather), and I had to wait until around 6pm that evening for the next available flight.

It hits 6pm and that flight is once again (more bad weather) delayed by 6 hours. I don't leave Atlanta until 12am-1am the following day.

I'm basically in the US for 1 day or more than I was supposed to be there, and I'm seriously concerned that I will have lost my rights to the VWP.

I kept the cancelled tickets and I can easily prove that I had every intention of leaving early - I spent two days at two different airports!

What are my chances at the gates if I try to return to the US in the next month or two?

Thank you in advance.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Kernderg

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

What date did you arrive and what date did you leave? Even a one day overstay technically invalidates the VWP, but you'd have a good chance at a tourist visa.

The other issue is, you already spend 90 days in the USA this year (how long ago), and now wnat to go again. US immigration will wonder how you can spend so much time abroad with no income.

[Kernderg 1]

21st April - July 23rd

I can provide for myself as I work online, essentially able to continue earning wherever I go.

[Cathi 5,748]

A day overstay will invalidate your VWP. Whether or not anything can be done because of circumstances that were beyond your control, I'm not sure, but you were cutting it close by booking a flight that was within hours of your 90 days. Also, if you are using the VWP or a tourist visa to stay for long periods of time, whether or not you can support yourself, is not a good thing, they are supposed to be used for tourism not for you to essentially be living in the US with your fiance. If you are engaged to a US citizen the proper thing to do is apply for a K-1.

[Boiler 45,486]

Working online in the US as a Tourist is also a grey area.

But it confirms why the advice here is to leave a few days before hand.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hello!

First post here, so I'm sorry if it's in the wrong place, this VWP thing is confusing me greatly.

So to make a long story short: I spent 89 days in America (travelling from the UK under the VWP) earlier this year, spending time with my fiancee.

I made sure to have a departure date before the 90 days I'm entitled to, as I've heard many a horror story about overstays.

Come the 89th day, I went to the airport and my flight was late by several hours. By the time it arrived and I landed in Atlanta it was midnight.

My next flight was cancelled (due to bad weather), and I had to wait until around 6pm that evening for the next available flight.

It hits 6pm and that flight is once again (more bad weather) delayed by 6 hours. I don't leave Atlanta until 12am-1am the following day.

I'm basically in the US for 1 day or more than I was supposed to be there, and I'm seriously concerned that I will have lost my rights to the VWP.

I kept the cancelled tickets and I can easily prove that I had every intention of leaving early - I spent two days at two different airports!

What are my chances at the gates if I try to return to the US in the next month or two?

Thank you in advance.

You are fine. Do not worry. CBP is aware that flight cancellations can put VWP participants over the 90 days and that the visitor should not be penalized for that. Your cancelled tickets are great evidence.

Google is your friend. First link after searching "VWP flight cancellations."

From CBP:https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1024/~/how-to-extend-my-visa-waiver-program-stay-in-the-u.s.-if-there-is-an-emergency

How to extend my Visa Waiver Program stay in the U.S. if there is an emergency that prevents me from leaving within my 90 days

I am visiting under the Visa Waiver Program, but I can't leave as scheduled due to an emergency. How do I extend my stay?

If an emergency prevents you - if admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) - from departing the United States within your period of authorized stay, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) district director having jurisdiction over the place of your temporary stay may, at their discretion, grant a period of satisfactory departure not to exceed 30 days. If departure is accomplished during that period, you will be regarded as having satisfactorily accomplished the visit without overstaying the allotted time. Satisfactory departure is only granted for real emergencies, such as hospitalization, conditions that cause flights to be cancelled or delayed for more than 24 hours (i.e. weather, worker strikes, etc. etc.) Otherwise, people visiting under the VWP may not extend their period of stay beyond their initial 90 days.

If you are unable to go to a USCIS office to obtain satisfactory departure because your overstay is due to a weather-related emergency and you are staying close to the airport until boarding, we suggest you keep a copy of any evidence you have of the emergency situation in order to resolve any questions about the reason for your overstay the next time you come to the U.S. This could include cancelled tickets, a statement from an airline about flight cancellations, including newspaper or other reports of significant storms.

Please see the following link to USCIS InfoPass information if you wish to schedule an appointment with a USCIS Immigration Officer.

If you wish to receive automatic updates to this Q&A, select "Subscribe to Updates" on the left side of this screen.

Edited August 30, 2013 by aaron2020

[JohnR! 5,495]

21st April - July 23rd

I can provide for myself as I work online, essentially able to continue earning wherever I go.

You overstayed not because of your flight delay. You overstayed because you had to leave the US on 19JUL. If you arrived in the US on 4/21, 89 days later would fall on 7/19.

Having said that, you will know if that made a difference next time you apply for ESTA,

Good luck!

[aaron2020 11,651]

You overstayed not because of your flight delay. You overstayed because you had to leave the US on 19JUL. If you arrived in the US on 4/21, 89 days later would fall on 7/19.

Having said that, you will know if that made a difference next time you apply for ESTA,

Good luck!

Nice catch.

90 days does not equal 3 months. 365 days/4 quaters = 91.25 days for any 3 months on average.

Counting the first and last days that you were here (4/21 to 7/23), you stayed in the US for 94 days. Even with 2 days in the airport, you stayed 92 days. You will not be able to use the VWP for a while.

Edited August 30, 2013 by aaron2020

[Kernderg 1]

Actually, I probably just gave wrong dates. I can't access the KLM website to check my exact dates, but I definitely was only out there for 89 days.

Thank you for all the advice!

[Boiler 45,486]

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html

This may help in future.