Our guide to US Visa types is supplemented here with an explanation of how you can get a visa extension, extension of stay once CBP admits you to the United States. If you are in Montana, North Dakota or Wyoming and need more information about a visa extension, you will find it if you keep reading. If you know you need help, you can contact us.
Once admitted to the United States you have status, the right to remain in the United States. But, you may stay no longer than authorized by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). If you find that CBP did not provide enough time for you to complete the purpose of your trip United States, you can request that your status be extended.
Visa Extension or Extending Your Stay
In thinking about extending your status, the first thing we need to deal with this terminology. A lot of people who want to stay longer in the United States don’t think of their status provided by CBP. Instead, they think about visa extension. You cannot extend the visa. You can only extend your status. If you are looking for helpful information on extending your status, you will do a lot better searching a term like extending your stay instead of visa extension.
Mistake Dealing with CBP
Sometimes people need this visa extension, extension of stay because something went wrong in the admission process. It is a general rule that if you have a B-1/B-2 business tourist visa CBP would grant you 180 days, six months stay when entering the United States. An applicant for admission, a visitor, might make an innocent mistake and say the wrong thing to the CBP officer. Sometimes the CBP officer might restrict the stay based on this mistake. We have seen, and helped, tourists who should’ve got 180 days but instead only got 30 days.
Visa Extension Process
You address your request for an extension of stay to the USCIS on form I-539. How you complete this form, along with the documentation that you include when submitting it depends upon the original US visa type that you received. For example, you may submit a request for an extension of your B-1/B-2 status through this simplified extension of stay process. But, if you have another US visa type like the H-2A agricultural worker status, your employer must submit a new petition to the USCIS to gain more time.
How we can help
We prepare applications for people wanting a visa extension, to extend their stay in the United States. You will benefit from our optimal approach, developed over years, to request for the extra time to USCIS. This involves supplementing the documents requested by USCIS for the best chance of success. If you would like our help with the visa extension, extension of stay, please contact us.
