Multiple long visits on ESTA VWP How long before i can go back?

[yuna628 9,713]

Here's the deal: You are 26 and are not employed, I don't know if you own a home or pay rent, but I assume that you don't have evidence of doing so? My suggestion to you is that you wait a while before you return for a visit. You need ties to prove, if questioned, that you will return home. Family is not enough believe me.

My fiancé visited when he was unemployed, or in college, or employed. At some point when we were able we would plan a trip twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter leaving a large enough gap inbetween. There was always a return ticket and travel insurance, he always brought proof of ties. You need to be spending more time in your home country than you are in the US. Because the UK is VWP eligible, a longer stay visa would indeed be difficult to get. So keep that in mind, cherish your VWP privileges and don't wreck them in haste. The embassy will not tell you what to do either.

If your soul manner of income is through unemployment benefit of some sort, and you are not actively seeking work in the UK - it's especially important that you take this into account in just how long you are frequently visiting and the length of time. You have savings sure. But what do you think that looks like to someone else?

No one here can tell if you if you'll have a problem, what questions they'll ask, and how they'll take the answers you give them. We can only tell you it may be reasonable to expect some issues, issues that you need to consider, and that it would be advisable to stay home and wait a while, maybe summer -- especially if you then want to return for yet another 3rd trip (which would even be less advisable in the manner you plan).

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Edited December 14, 2015 by yuna628

[JFH 12,191]

Pull yourself together. "Missing the US so much that you can't hold out to February". My HUSBAND lives there and I can manage to follow the rules regarding visits. And I have to come back to work.

Are you "working" for this friend? What job does he do? What do you do in the house all day when he's out at work? He surely doesn't have as much time off as you?

[concernedesta 2]

Yuna thank you! How long were your trips for? I live with my mother. I do pay rent but there is no proof of this.

I do not work for my friend! he is self employed. A basketball trainer so he only works a couple of hours a day. I would either stay at the house or go with him and watch.

Its just hard at the moment as its only been a few days and I thought I would be able to return as soon as i wanted to so this has all come as a bit of a shock to me. The 3rd trip is not planned or necessarily going to happen i was just saying that if i did want to return again it would not be until much much later in the year. It is Tampa airport so I assume not as hardcore as the likes of JFK and Miami but i am still worried. Its all very scary! Wish it was easy to travel like it is in europe!

So as I stayed 10 weeks you think i should wait 10 weeks to go back? would that not look strange?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

No stranger than coming home for a month and returning.

It has nothing to do with the airport but the attitude of the cbp officer. They could look at your record, not like the colour of your shirt and decided to deny. It's really all up to them.

[NickandAngi 8]

I'm on board with most people's responses here and I can share my experience with you too. As I used to live and work in London, I am familiar with the way things are set up there. Although I never claimed benefits, I have friends that have and went travelling using money they have saved from benefits and then had DWP to answer to. They do keep an eye out for these sorts of things and as you know, flights to the US are not cheap, neither is supporting yourself whilst you're here.

Anyway, I took a 3 month sabbatical from my job last year to come and do some unpaid volunteer work here. Although the VWP allows a stay of 90 days, I was sent through a second tier border control agents. I was questioned about my intentions, asked to prove my ties to the UK, show that I was able to support myself for the 3 months, prove I had a return ticket and answer questions about where I would be staying etc. This was in San Francisco and it is generally a 'relaxed' airport.

This may not happen to you, but be prepared for extra questioning and know that they have the right to refuse you entry.

On a separate note, why would you want to come in February when the weather isn't ideal? Perhaps you should hold off a little bit more and come back in the spring of summer when you can experience something different...

Good luck!!

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I'm on board with most people's responses here and I can share my experience with you too. As I used to live and work in London, I am familiar with the way things are set up there. Although I never claimed benefits, I have friends that have and went travelling using money they have saved from benefits and then had DWP to answer to. They do keep an eye out for these sorts of things and as you know, flights to the US are not cheap, neither is supporting yourself whilst you're here.

Anyway, I took a 3 month sabbatical from my job last year to come and do some unpaid volunteer work here. Although the VWP allows a stay of 90 days, I was sent through a second tier border control agents. I was questioned about my intentions, asked to prove my ties to the UK, show that I was able to support myself for the 3 months, prove I had a return ticket and answer questions about where I would be staying etc. This was in San Francisco and it is generally a 'relaxed' airport.

This may not happen to you, but be prepared for extra questioning and know that they have the right to refuse you entry.

On a separate note, why would you want to come in February when the weather isn't ideal? Perhaps you should hold off a little bit more and come back in the spring of summer when you can experience something different...

Good luck!!

Do not do Tampa in the summer. Hot humid and miserable!

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

Yuna thank you! How long were your trips for? I live with my mother. I do pay rent but there is no proof of this.

I do not work for my friend! he is self employed. A basketball trainer so he only works a couple of hours a day. I would either stay at the house or go with him and watch.

Its just hard at the moment as its only been a few days and I thought I would be able to return as soon as i wanted to so this has all come as a bit of a shock to me. The 3rd trip is not planned or necessarily going to happen i was just saying that if i did want to return again it would not be until much much later in the year. It is Tampa airport so I assume not as hardcore as the likes of JFK and Miami but i am still worried. Its all very scary! Wish it was easy to travel like it is in europe!

So as I stayed 10 weeks you think i should wait 10 weeks to go back? would that not look strange?

I'm sorry, but what on earth made you think you could just come and go whenever you wanted for long periods of time through the VWP? It's made very clear when you apply for the program that it is intended for short non-frequent visits. I'm sorry if it sounds harsh but the one thing that really bugs me is when people abuse the VWP, especially now that there are plans to tighten the program.

Multiple users have warned you that you need to slow down and stop visiting the US so often if you are using the VWP, but you seem to keep ignoring their advice. If you want to stay longer I would suggest looking into an actual visa and go the route that the majority of the rest of us have.

[JFH 12,191]

The VWP is not in place so that people can live in the USA in 90-day installments. It's for tourists to take holidays and visit friends and family. How do you know this person if this is your first time there? You need to, if you can, look at it from the CBP officer's point of view. You are coming into the country to spend 90 days in someone's house, going to the UK for a short while, and then coming back to spend another 90 days in someone's house. Rinse and repeat. Now do you see why he could be forgiven for thinking you are actually trying to live in the USA and taking a short trip to the UK every 3 months?

It doesn't even sound like there is much tourism going on. You're just staying at his place, he's going out to work while you watch tv and cook his dinner, probably. That's living, not visiting. That's not what the VWP is for. Please don't abuse it.

[yuna628 9,713]

Yuna thank you! How long were your trips for? I live with my mother. I do pay rent but there is no proof of this.

I do not work for my friend! he is self employed. A basketball trainer so he only works a couple of hours a day. I would either stay at the house or go with him and watch.

Its just hard at the moment as its only been a few days and I thought I would be able to return as soon as i wanted to so this has all come as a bit of a shock to me. The 3rd trip is not planned or necessarily going to happen i was just saying that if i did want to return again it would not be until much much later in the year. It is Tampa airport so I assume not as hardcore as the likes of JFK and Miami but i am still worried. Its all very scary! Wish it was easy to travel like it is in europe!

So as I stayed 10 weeks you think i should wait 10 weeks to go back? would that not look strange?

He usually made such trips a short yet reasonable amount of 2-3 weeks, for the larger trips that were planned out he took about 80 days in the spring/summer, and then 70 or so in the winter. The time spent out of the country between the larger trips were iirc a good gap of 6 months or more and on a few times we left a year+ gap. It's not something to be done on a regular basis. I also don't like the idea of having a return ticket showing you will return on X date, and then changing it later on so that you can stay longer. It's obviously something that people do, due to emergency reasons or some others, but we always found that if you are showing a CBP officer that you will leave on X date and then don't because you wish to be a little sneaky it isn't appropriate.

I think the rule of thumb is -- if you have to actively question if you are going to be spending too much time in the US vs your home, then you should in all haste change your plans. If you recently visited, then I'd wait for a few more months late winter or better spring, and maybe also think about working on proving ties to home. Because it won't really matter wanting to come to visit, if you can't actually prove your ties to home and ability to support oneself, should you be questioned.

[2ndMessiah 184]

Gosh this is not what I wanted to hear!

I was signed off from work when I was 16 so have never had a job and my benefits are fine as long as i spend 6months a year in the country. I can afford to travel as I saved my money for 10 years! The friend I would be staying with is just a friend but he is a male so would they assume it was a relationship? What are my options? If they may not let me in on the ESTA what can I do? I will ring the embassay tomorrow but I am guessing they will give the answer that you can make as many trips as long as their is a reasonable time between trips. What is a reasonable time though? Would I be better booking a shorter trip and then extending once I am in?

Gosh, Ten years of saved benefits. How did you ever manage to eat and pay your bills.....

You say you can afford to travel, so travel. The US is not the only destination. Visit Canada. Visit Europe. Visit Australia. Visit the Far East. That could fill up the best part of six months in the next twelve. Your life would be full of new experiences. and if you still feel the urge, come visit us again in the Good Ol'e US of A in September 2016

Edited December 14, 2015 by 2ndMessiah

[concernedesta 2]

I have only visited america once for 10weeks. It was originally 3weeks but decided to travel to Dallas so extended. Whilst I was there the persons house I was staying at died. It was a shared house. Due to this and a few other circumstances I was unable to do the touristy things I had planned to do once i had extended my trip eg busch gardens beach trips trip to the big cat sanctuary and travel to orlando and miami and had hoped to travel to NY and possibly vegas.

I know the person because they have duel citizenship and lived for 20years in the UK. I am confused as I have read other forums where people have gone for close to 90 days come back for a month or even a week in some cases and gone back for another 90days with no problems but now I am being told that I could encounter major problems. It would only be my second trip to the US with a 2 month gap inbetween. Would I be better off going for a shorter length of time or because I originally went for 3 weeks but extended before that they would be suspiscous? This is throwing everything I had planned into mayhem.

I dont want to live in America! My home is England. I just didnt realise it would be a problem to come back again after 2 months! Naive maybe! I have had one trip! I just dont want to get to Tampa and be turned back!

I appreciate everyones input and I am taking it all onboard and weighing up my options. I just want as much information as possible really. I only have 3 more posts until tomorrow 7PM so I wont reply to each post but try to answer questions etc in bigger posts after a few responses.

[EmilyW 1,527]

I can understand why you don't want to officially live in the US. I assume your benefits would be stopped and you might have to work.

[JFH 12,191]

Gosh, Ten years of saved benefits. How did you ever manage to eat and pay your bills.....

You say you can afford to travel, so travel. The US is not the only destination. Visit Canada. Visit Europe. Visit Australia. Visit the Far East. That could fill up the best part of six months in the next twelve. Your life would be full of new experiences. and if you still feel the urge, come visit us again in the Good Ol'e US of A in September 2016

It's just a case of "first time in America" that a lot of Brits get (and Florida seems to be he main place for it). It usually leads to posts laced with desperation to go back, and the belief that as long as you have a GCSE or two you can get a job there and live next door to Mickey for the rest of your days.

[JFH 12,191]

This is throwing everything I had planned into mayhem.

What exactly had you planned?

You say you don't want to live there - with respect, you are doing a very good impression of someone who does. Stay away for a year then. Travel to other places. Maybe get a job and start to feel better about your life and earn your own money rather than expecting the taxpayer to buy your Busch Gardens tickets.

You can use a computer and seem to have no problem sitting for prolonged periods (you managed it on the flight to Florida and back). Many office jobs don't involve much more physical exertion that that. I think you need more focus in your life.

[2ndMessiah 184]

It's just a case of "first time in America" that a lot of Brits get (and Florida seems to be he main place for it). It usually leads to posts laced with desperation to go back, and the belief that as long as you have a GCSE or two you can get a job there and live next door to Mickey for the rest of your days.

TO be fair to the OP, there is a very large British and Irish community in Florida and around Orlando that do live 6 months in the US and 6 months in the UK. I have no idea how they wrangle a B1 ( I think) visitor visa but they seem to manage it. If they can why cant he. But this is off topic and not what the OP was really asking.

Yes I have friends who visited Disney in 2014, desperate to come back. Came back this year and have booked flights to come back next year.

It is very alluring but no bearing at all on real life.

Edited December 15, 2015 by 2ndMessiah