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I am currently visiting the US as a tourist.

At the port of entry the visa officer(CBP immigration officer) asked me a couple of questions and then he gave me 12 months as duration of stay in the US.

I went and checked my online i-94, which also reflects the same fact of me being granted 1 year. I came to the US 4th April 2019, the visa officer has given my last date to stay till 2nd April 2020 for this visit.

Does that mean I can stay for almost 12 months and leave. Or do i have to leave around 6 months like everyone else.

wsr007
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    What did you tell the officer you had planned to stay in the USA? – Willeke Apr 17 '19 at 18:36
  • I'm a partner in my father's company in India. I came to chill out in the US for 5 months with my brother. The visa officer asked me if it is a problem if i am not in India taking care of the business. I said it is my father's company no one cares if I am out for a long period. My plan was to go back in 5 months this 1 year thing is more exciting as my parents will be joining us for Christmas and I can leave Jan next year. – wsr007 Apr 17 '19 at 18:42
  • @phoog thanks for pointing that out. i'll correct that mistake – wsr007 Apr 17 '19 at 18:57

1 Answers1

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It's not normal, but it is allowed, despite what most people think. One year is the maximum possible period of initial admission. 8 CFR 214.2(b)(1):

(b) Visitors -

(1) General. Any B-1 visitor for business or B-2 visitor for pleasure may be admitted for not more than one year and may be granted extensions of temporary stay in increments of not more than six months each, except that alien members of a religious denomination coming temporarily and solely to do missionary work in behalf of a religious denomination may be granted extensions of not more than one year each, provided that such work does not involve the selling of articles or the solicitation or acceptance of donations. Those B-1 and B-2 visitors admitted pursuant to the waiver provided at § 212.1(e) of this chapter may be admitted to and stay on Guam for period not to exceed fifteen days and are not eligible for extensions of stay.

Since your passport and the online I-94 database agree that you were admitted until 2 April 2020, you may remain in the US until that day.

However, if you do something different from what you told the officer when you entered, you might be met with a charge of deception. I am not aware of this happening in the US, but it seems fairly common in the UK.

You could protect yourself against suspicion by leaving the US within the five months and then coming back, saying that you have changed your plans because of the extended period of admission. On the other hand, if you have firm evidence of your original plans, you might not need to do that.

Also be aware of tax considerations. If you remain in the US for over 183 days, you will become liable to report and figure income tax on your worldwide income.

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phoog
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  • Thanks. So does that mean it is ok for me to stay and leave a week before the date specified on my i-94. What threw me off was people usually leave in 6 months. But since I get 1 year I was thinking of staying over till Christmas and then leaving like January 2020. From what you mentioned it seems I am ok to stay for 1 year. – wsr007 Apr 17 '19 at 18:47
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    @wsr007 sure, it's legal for you to stay until January. It is very surprising that you got a year. I've never heard of something like this, and everything I have read from the government (which mentions this possibility rarely) suggests that you can only get more than 6 months if you specifically ask for it. But I suppose that the officer was just sympathetic and decided to give you more because your plans seemed indefinite. – phoog Apr 17 '19 at 18:51
  • thanks , i guess i was just lucky for whatever reason I don't know. I have a long history in the US though. I visited 5 times as a tourist(minor). 10 years on f1 &h1b. And now I came back as a tourist to visit. Whatever it is I'm glad to chill out till January and check out places. – wsr007 Apr 17 '19 at 18:55
  • thanks for the tax information that needs to be accounted for – wsr007 Apr 17 '19 at 19:00
  • One last question do i need to file for extension around september 2019 (6 month mark) or it is not required as I have already been granted 1 year? – wsr007 Apr 17 '19 at 19:03
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    @wsr007 no, you do not need to file for an extension unless you want to stay beyond 2 April 2020. – phoog Apr 17 '19 at 19:38
  • thank you for the clarification. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my queries. – wsr007 Apr 18 '19 at 00:55
  • For once I will beg to differ from Phoog. I think it will be extremely risky to stay more than a few months. Don’t forget there is a difference between what is allowed (lawful) and what is reasonable.

    Yes I know one year durations of stay are allowed however I do not see anything special in your profile why a reasonable immigration officer should give you a year. I will bet good money that on your next visit you get extreme scrutiny or your visa is canceled. A young working age man going on tourism for a year is not the profile of tourist the USA typically wants.

     – Augustine of Hippo Apr 18 '19 at 07:32
  • @cHiEf Immigration vIoLaTer, i guess i have a few things working in my favor. 1) I have visited the US 5 times before as a tourist when i was a minor 2) I lived/studied(F1)/worked in the US for 10 years on H1-b. 3) I can prove I make 20k USD a month in rental income from India without working anymore. – wsr007 Apr 18 '19 at 16:10
  • @wsr007 It’s not about your financial status at all. I’ll just advice you to be extra cautious spending more than the five months Phoog suggested. You’ve lived here before so you know what’s happening with immigration. It’s bad. – Augustine of Hippo Apr 18 '19 at 16:50
  • @cHiEf Immigration vIoLaTer, sounds good, will keep that in mind. – wsr007 Apr 18 '19 at 16:55