Visa for the USA
 

A friend came around last week and we chatted about my forthcoming US ride. He asked about a visa which I foolishly thought I wouldn't need as I was going for 94 days. I then checked and found that visas are needed for travellers in the USA there for more than 90 days. I quickly phoned up the US Embassy in London and arranged a compulsory four hour interview however this has left precious little time to get the visa and the embassy return it within five working days. Virgin Atlantic refused to alter my flight dates as they were non-refundable however the travel agents have accepted responsibility for failing to inform me for visa requirements and will provide me with new tickets if the visa fails to show in time.
CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK IF YOU NEED A VISA.

Hi Paul
I'm assuming you are a UK citizen. How long can you stay in the US if you get a visa? I know it's 90 days on the visa waiver programme. I'm planning to ride in from Mexico and pass thru to Vancouver, and if there's a way of stretching it to 6 months (won't need all that but 90 days would be a bit of a rush) then I'll submit to a four hour interview/cavity search.

All the best

As a US citizen, I haven't spent a whole lot of time worrying about this particular problem, but could you make the effort to go to Canada or Mexico sometime during the first 90 days, then come right back in on a new 90 no visa visit?

Hmm, if I were sitting in that boring booth, 94 days would raise a flag for me. I mean- 94 days as opposed to 90??? Can't you adjust your trip a bit? I'm in Paraguay now on a 14 day visa. I'm fairly sure I can get an extention if I want one. If not, it just means more money for Brasil! Enjoy your ride, D.

I'm fairly sure you can't get a new 90 days just by going into Canada or Mexico (on a UK passport anyway). You can if you fly somewhere far away (eg London) and come back the next day, but a friend of mine has just been banned from the US for ever for doing this 4 or 5 times in a row. Even though it's not illegal.

The official line on a visa to the US is 180 days at a time. There are no hard and fast rules about how long you have to be out for but the longer the better! (And preferably return via another border control) I have had friends turned away but they have addmitted their attitude at the time sucked. My wife and I have been in and out of the states for the last 20 months but have left for at least a couple of months and although we get asked questions, we've had no problems so far - touch wood!!!
Try and have somesort of evidence of funds and ne prepared to eat humble pie!!!
Chris

Last week I returned from my US trip - about 3 months and 15,000 miles - and I was there for 94 days. I discovered I required a visa a bit late in the day as my flights were more than 90 days apart. Crossing a border for a few days just would not satisfy them as visiting a neighbouring country ie Canada or Mexico just would not do. So it was a lengthy wait at the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square and a sticker in my passport. And there are 3million Mexican illegals in the US.......