An ESTA visa is only valid for 3 months so for long term visits it won’t work and you cannot just keep reapplying for an ESTA visa this not the intent and from what I have read you will end up in detention. You will need to apply for a 5 year visa. Don’t get confused, a 5 year visa does not allow you to stay in the USA for 5 years it only allows you to present to the US border numerous times in a 5 year period, its up to the immigration official at the border as to whether he lets you in and for how long. Generally they will give 6 months but be prepared. Make sure you have a return ticket, a letter of current employment in Australia, if you own a home take a rate notice, to show you own property in Australia, take evidence of income including providing proof you can support yourself for the extended stay this could include a letter from your employer if you are on extended leave, copies of bank statements etc. My investigations show that if you get any longer than a 6 month entry you are lucky. You will be issued your I94 on entry with an exit date. You can apply for a further 6 months using an I539 form to make it a total of 12 months which is what we wanted but you have to apply for the extension at least 45 days before your current I94 expires and the cost is $290 per application, a family is one application. The US immigration web sites states “generally extensions are granted” but 12 months is the maximum allowed. Another option is to leave the US and return however you must leave the America’s, you cannot slip over the boarder to Canada, Mexico or the Bahamas’s re enter the US and start the clock ticking for another six months. This option will require you to travel back home or to Europe. In the end they need to be satisfied that you will not just disappear into the vastness of the US but will actually leave the country.
- Posted by RnR on their IPad
Location:Brisbane Qld Australia
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