Question: Hi, I’m from Australia I met my fiancé in 2011. I overstayed my visa waiver to be with him. I came back to Australia in May 2014.(I wasn’t deported, I just came home to see my family). I came back in July on another visa waiver but I was sent home and Homeland security told me to apply for a B2 tourist visa. I applied for the B2 visa only to be told at the U.S. Consulate that I can’t be issued one because of overstaying my waiver which really confuses me. Now my fiancé is going to fly to Australia to marry me and we were wanting to know what we have to do so that I may be able to travel back to the U.S. with him after we are married as this is where we plan to live.
Answer: Yes, unfortunately, under Immigration regulations, once you overstay your period of authorized stay in the U.S. – by even one day, when you leave the U.S., you are not allowed to re-enter on your Visa Waiver (or B1/B2) and are instead required to apply for a new B1/B2 Tourist visa at the U.S. Consulate in your home country. However, once an individual overstays in the U.S. and then applies for a visa at the U.S. Consulate abroad, the Consular officers are very unlikely to issue a B1/B2 tourist or any other type of Non-immigrant visa, effectively closing all possibilities for legally travelling to the U.S. again.
