Question:
I have a question regarding visitor
visa. If a family member has been
issued a 6 month entry visa and
the visa is about to expire in ten
days, can they still visit U.S.?
Will they be denied entry because
the visa is about to expire? Will
they still be allowed to stay for
6 months if they show a 6 month
open return ticket?
Answer:
Yes, the visitor would be admitted
even past the expiration of the
visa. Normally, for six months (although
that is a discretionary decision
of the INS inspector at the airport).
Ingo, the wording to your answer
above might lead to some confusion.
It sounds like you are saying the
applicant would be admitted even
if the visa is expired at time of
application.
The applicant
could certainly be admitted to a
date past the expiration date on
the visa but the visa must be valid
at time of application for admission.
Understand that "validity" as it
applies to a visa only concerns
the expiration date and had no bearing
on it being genuine. In all probability
if the applicants visa had expired,
he/she would have been denied boarding
by the carrier. If the carrier missed
an expired visa and the inspector
picked up on it a trip to secondary
is assured. In secondary the carrier
would be hit with a $3000 fine and
the applicant could be offered a
visa waiver ( that could be denied)
for a fee, or advised he/she is
inadmissible and offered to withdraw
application of have an exclusion
hearing. BTW the six months admission
on a B-2 is not discretionary on
the primary inspector. To give less
time requires supervisory approved.
