Studying in Canada - visiting USA under VWP

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crouch

Registered Users (C)
Hi, I have a question concerning travelling to the US under ESTA.

Here's my situation: I am currently studying at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. Since my programme is shorter than six months, i do not have a study visa, I have only tourist (TRV) visa which allows me to study in Canada.

I made my first visit to the USA from 18th - 21st of January 2013 and a second trip from 15th - 24th of February 2013 under a Visa Waiver Programee - ESTA. The purpose of the travels was to travel and to visit my friends in the USA. (I am from the Czech Republic). I did not surrender my I-94 when I left to Canada on any of these trips and did not recieve any stamp in my passport. All my trips were by land.

I am planning to go back to the USA at the beginning of April for a short weekend trip to Seattle (April 5th - April 7th), go back to Canada, finish my exams and then come back at the end of April (April 19th - May 16th)

My question is this: When I surrender my I-94 on my Seattle trip and then try to enter the country under ESTA again on April 19th, will I have any problems with my admission to the USA?

I can prove that I left USA and I was studying in Canada the following ways:
Copy of bus tickets to USA and back to Vancouver for all my trips
List of transactions made in Vancouver after I left USA in February
Letter of enrolment from my university

I also have a return ticket from Vancouver to the Czech Republic on the 17th of May.

Do you think that would be enough for granting me the entry to the USA under Visa Waiver Programme?
Thank you very much.
Adam
 
Thanks raevsky! I am just worried that it may seem like i left USA to Canada just to get another 90 days in the USA. I think that there is no evidence of me actually leaving the USA since i left by land and did not surrender my I-94. Hopefully the evidence I have will be enough.
 
Did you pay for gazoline in Canada with your credit card? You need credit card traces for purchases made in Canada by your credit card. They will establish the dates of your presence in Canada.
 
Not for gasoline, I don't own a car - I was traveling by bus. I have transactions for food and other purchases in Vancouver.
 
If those are credit card transactions made to you individual credit card account, in person, not online, and if you have all the slips, that would be OK
 
the transactions were made in person but i don't have the slips unfortunately. The only thing i can do is get a bank account statement listing all the transactions I made.
 
I would not trust those records if I were an officer. I would need original slips with your signature. There is no proof the payments was done by yourself
 
I found one slip with my card number and name on it on 03/06 - about two weeks i left the US in February. The slip did not require my signature though - no card transactions required my signature so far. I can start collecting the slips from now on if that would help.
 
Try to prove as much stay in Canada as possible. If you were present at exams, lectures, take a letter from school with dates they had you at school.
 
Thanks raevsky. I will try to gather as much evidence as I can. I should have surrendered my I94 in February...I forgot to do it :-/
 
By the way, all this proof will be needed only if the officer at the border gives you a hard time. If they just let you in and accept your explanation, then don't give them anything. In general, do not give them more than you have to.
 
Hopefully they will not give me a hard time, however I understand that from their point of view my applying for new period of 90 days will be suspicious. However I hope I should have enough evidence to prove I was living in Canada and not the USA. I will have credit card slips, letter of enrollment proving I was a full time student in Canada, bank account statement (matching the slips I currently have + transactions I am missing the slips for) and I will try to travel to the US once I have my university transcript of records for this semester.

Just a question: Should I try to surrender my I-94 card on the trip to the USA saying I forgot to do it on my last trip at the end of February? And try to enter under a new Visa Waiver? Or should I just wait and surrender it when leaving back to Canada? (It will be just a weekend trip to Seattle and back).

I appreciate your advice very much!!!
 
A normal person with your pattern of trips would do it on April 7th. Why would you do it earlier?
 
I thought it would set the record straight of my comings and goings. I guess it does not work that way. I will just have them stamp my passport to prove I crossed the border to the US and spent just a weekend there.
 
I think it would be suspicious if you surrender it earlier, because why would a regular person do that earlier?! If you surrender it each time, that would also be logical. But splitting it into two strange periods does not look like what a regular person would do. I would not surrender it before April 7th if I wanted the officer to beleive me.
 
Ok, I see what you're saying. Thanks again raevsky! I will keep collecting my credit card slips and keep hoping for the best when I try to cross the border in mid April.
 
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