Traveling in US, Canada and back to the US on B2 visa

mwhzzi

New Member
Hi,
My wife and I received B1/2 visa. We recently retired and this is our first visit to the USA. We have no relatives or any other interests in the US apart from travelling.
We will arrive by air in March 2019 to Hawaii (for one week) and then on to LA and plan to travel approximately 3 months up the west coast of the USA before crossing by car to Canada's west coast. In Canada, we plan to travel across Canada for 3 months (heading east) say until September and then cross back to the USA and down the east coast by car for a further 3 months. We will leave by December 2019 at the latest.

I've read a number of posts in this website and I'm now concerned about our ability to return to the US from Canada and follow our travel plan:

(1) It appears that if we get a 6 month I-94 stay, then by leaving the US to Canada say 3 months into this 6 month visa, we will "use" our remaining 3 month I94 'credit' whilst traveling in Canada. Is this true?

(2) If so, if we have been out of the USA for a 3 month period then does that entitle us to apply for a new entry I-94 upon returning to the USA after our Canadian travel? So, is it common to issue back to back I-94 entry visas?

(3) should we apply for an extension to our 6 month I-94 before crossing to Canada?

(4) Another option may be that we specifically ask for a 3 month entry. This way we will stay out of the US for a similar (3 month) period of time in Canada. Does this enable us apply for a new I-94 upon re-entrying USA to complete our travel.

Your feedback will be highly appreciated.

Cheers, Mark.
 
1. Yes that is correct.

2. There’s no entitlement to how long a visitor may be permitted to stay in the US. Being admitted into the US as a visitor is a privilege which is not guaranteed even with a valid visa.

3. Extension requests takes months, sometimes upto a year to be adjudicated. Once a person leaves prior to the petition being adjudicated, the request is considered abandoned.

4. A visitor has no say in how long they can or will be admitted for. There’s no guarantee of being admitted for six months as a matter of fact.
 
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