Question about re-entry on a Visa Waivers

Hi All,

I'm planning a trip later this year where i would go the to US for a few weeks and then spend two months in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. All of this, including my arrival back home, would be within 90 days of my initial arrival in the US.

When i leave the US/Mexico does the Visa Waiver that i have become void or is it valid until the 90 days ends?

If it is void can i easily apply for another visa waiver or will i not be able to because the 90 days wouldn't have passed or its too soon.

I would like to buy a return ticket to and from Houston but that would obviously have to change if i can't re-enter the US.

Does anyone have any experience doing this where they are in the US, leave to another country and return without hassle?

I am presuming you are entering under ESTA and VWP. You don't apply for VWP before you get to the border. If you enter the US and leave within 90 days, irrelevant of your departure to another country, then you are fine. You are pushing over 80 days but that shouldn't matter as the VWP resets because of the countries you have gone to after leaving the US. So then the only worry is if the US border guard thinks you are doing a visa run but if you have a ticket to leave the US that shouldn't be a problem.

If you enter the US and leave within 90 days, irrelevant of your departure to another country, then you are fine.

However you can only re-enter the US on a subsequent VWP entry if and only if you have left North America (US, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean) after you last left the US. In your case you will have done so - by visiting Belize and Guatemala.

So your re-entry to the US (via Houston) will be fine, for another 90 days if you require it.

if you have a ticket to leave the US that shouldn't be a problem.

Even to enter the US under the first VWP entry, you should definitely have a return or onward ticket out of North America at the very end of your trip, even if you have a flight booked for Houston to Belize say (this ticket is probably not adequate, because you won't have residential status there, and you're buying a return ticket back to Houston in any case).

So not sufficient having just a return from Houston to Belize, without a final ticket out. So you need to pre-purchase that final ticket as well - back home, or wherever.

Thanks for your reply.

I will definitely have a return ticket booked.

I will be flying from Guatemala when I arrive in Houston to begin my voyage home. So that will satisfy them on whether or not ive left North America.

So you think with those two facts in mind I will satisfy the immigration officer or in simpler terms it shows that I've left North America at some point and intend to leave?

in simpler terms it shows that I've left North America at some point and intend to leave [after my second entry as well]?

Yes - you've covered the two main points.

even if you have a flight booked for Houston to Belize say (this ticket is probably not adequate, because you won't have residential status there

Belize is outside the 'North America' zone.

So you think with those two facts in mind I will satisfy the immigration officer or in simpler terms it shows that I've left North America at some point and intend to leave?

First, to satisfy the requirements, you must not only have a ticket to some destination outside 'North America' (US, Canada, Mexico, and "adjacent islands," basically anything in the Caribbean or western Atlantic), but if that ticket departs from a location outside the US, you must also have a ticket leaving the US.

Second, the airlines are generally charged with ensuring you have the proper documentation. They may ask for it, they may not. If you don't have a return ticket bought with the same purchase (i.e. two separate one-way tickets), they may not see the return and deny you boarding before you ever leave for the US. That has happened, based on prior reports here.

Third, even if the airlines check, the official you receive at the border may check, or they may not. Same deal, and same possible explanations required.

Since all of this is within your 90 days, you shouldn't have much issue. At worst, they'll just let you back in on the original, and you may have to ask for a new one. But it shouldn't matter either way.

even if you have a flight booked for Houston to Belize say (this ticket is probably not adequate, because you won't have residential status there

Belize is outside the 'North America' zone.

Please do not be selective with your quotes - my obvious point was that a ticket to Belize is not sufficient, and a further ticket out is required. And you do need a ticket to a "final" destination to which you have a lawful right of entry.

even if you have a flight booked for Houston to Belize say

my obvious point was that a ticket to Belize is not sufficient, and a further ticket out is required.

Except that it is sufficient. Houston to Belize demonstrates leaving the US (Houston) and going outside 'North America' (Belize). If it were to Mexico or Cuba, that would be a different story.

And you do need a ticket to a "final" destination to which you have a lawful right of entry.

I'm assuming this refers to the multi-part ticket I noted above. If your ticket leaves from (e.g.) Mexico City to Belize City, this would have to be accompanied by a ticket from the US to elsewhere as well, though the "elsewhere" doesn't have to be Mexico City (a bus ticket to Tijuana counts). It's something to demonstrate a) leaving the US, and b) leaving the prescribed adjacent territory zone, which is a requirement of the VWP when arriving by air or sea.

For the sake of the OP, and to summarise some of the above before it went careering off track. A ticket to Belize is all you need to prove you are not overstaying. But since you are leaving the US before the end of the 90 days since you first entered you are fine anyway. That is based on the premise you have evidence of these movements.

Please do not be selective with your quotes - my obvious point was that a ticket to Belize is not sufficient, and a further ticket out is required. And you do need a ticket to a "final" destination to which you have a lawful right of entry.

The US does not require that your onward or return ticket under the VWP ends in a country you have the right to reside in, all they care about is that it is outside of North America.

If you fly from the US to Mexico the US will know about your departure, if you go by land (bus) they will not (there are no exits checks) so you should expect some questions about when you left the US upon your return, showing them your Mexican entry stamp should be sufficient.

It should be noted that "lawful right of entry," "right to reside," and "legal resident" are not necessarily equivalent (though there is overlap), and the VWP only considers the last.

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