Husband overstayed VWP, can he return to U.S. for a visit?

christine55

New Member
Hi!

My husband went to the U.S. to visit me on the Visa Waiver Program with no intention of overstaying. After his arrival, we decided we wanted to get married. We met with an immigration lawyer who informed us of everything we needed to do to begin the process of getting my husband a green card. We tried to come up with the money to begin the process, but finally after 6 months (3 months after his visa expired) of struggling financially, we gave up and decided to move back to my husband's country. I have now become a legal citizen of Norway.

The problem is I would like to return back home for the holidays to visit my family. I'm pregnant and want my husband to join me just in case anything happens. My husband does not face any sort of ban because he did not overstay by more than 180 days, but I know he will get denied for VWP.

Is there any sort of hope for us to visit my family together? Or should we just settle with the fact that my husband will never be able to visit the U.S. again?

Thank you for your help!
 
Hi!

My husband went to the U.S. to visit me on the Visa Waiver Program with no intention of overstaying. After his arrival, we decided we wanted to get married. We met with an immigration lawyer who informed us of everything we needed to do to begin the process of getting my husband a green card. We tried to come up with the money to begin the process, but finally after 6 months (3 months after his visa expired) of struggling financially, we gave up and decided to move back to my husband's country. I have now become a legal citizen of Norway.

The problem is I would like to return back home for the holidays to visit my family. I'm pregnant and want my husband to join me just in case anything happens. My husband does not face any sort of ban because he did not overstay by more than 180 days, but I know he will get denied for VWP.

Is there any sort of hope for us to visit my family together? Or should we just settle with the fact that my husband will never be able to visit the U.S. again?

Thank you for your help!

Your husbands overstay was minor and as it was less than 180 days he will not have received a bar (which is 3 years or 10 years for more serious cases). So you don't need to worry that he will never be able to visit the USA again. Now, the best thing to do would be to apply for a visitors visa at the local embassy. Be honest about the overstay, explain the circumstances and see what they say.
 
Your husbands overstay was minor and as it was less than 180 days he will not have received a bar (which is 3 years or 10 years for more serious cases). So you don't need to worry that he will never be able to visit the USA again. Now, the best thing to do would be to apply for a visitors visa at the local embassy. Be honest about the overstay, explain the circumstances and see what they say.

Thank you so much for your quick reply! The B2 usually takes time to get processed and approved, right? So there's probably no chance that we would get it done in time for him to travel with me during Christmas?
 
Thank you so much for your quick reply! The B2 usually takes time to get processed and approved, right? So there's probably no chance that we would get it done in time for him to travel with me during Christmas?

That would depend on your local embassy. They may have an online booking system - I suggest you look into that immediately.
 
So you are a U.S. citizen? There are many posts on this board where spouses of U.S. citizens living abroad have tremendous difficulty getting or are unable to get a tourist visa to briefly visit the U.S., even with the cleanest record. It's just an unfortunate part of how the immigration system works. So definitely don't count on it. Also your explanation of why he overstayed last time is problematic because it says that he actually intended to immigrate the last time he was in the U.S., so it's going to be an uphill battle to convince them that now he doesn't intend to immigrate (which he needs to show in order to get a tourist visa).
 
Well, if the OP has enough proof that she and her husband have a life in Norway to which they intend to return, it can't be that hard. That said, I think Norway requires one to renounce other citizenships when naturalising, so it's possible the OP is only Norwegian at this point.
 
Well, if the OP has enough proof that she and her husband have a life in Norway to which they intend to return, it can't be that hard. That said, I think Norway requires one to renounce other citizenships when naturalising, so it's possible the OP is only Norwegian at this point.

No, I'm still an American citizen and will be for many years.

I'll give the embassy here a call and at least get the process going. We won't know unless we try, we may be pleasantly surprised.
 
I am a legal resident of Norway. I am not a citizen, nor have I any intention of applying for citizenship right now. I don't see anywhere on the site that says I lose U.S. citizenship when becoming a resident. That's only if I decide to apply for Norwegian citizenship because Norway no longer allows dual citizenship.
 
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