What does this visa mean? Did I overstay?

Question

Hello A bit of background: I moved to the US in 1979 and lived and worked there until i left in 1994.

I have 2 children (both born in my home country of the UK). The daughter was born in 1988 and so from then until 1994 she was on my passport and visa.

I have never been back to the US (I had a complicated pregnancy in ‘94 and unplanned but I couldn’t travel back after my son was born) however my daughter travelled in 2009 and was stopped at immigration saying she’d previously overstayed a visa. When they realised she only would have been 5 at the time they let her through and since then she’s had a redress number and been fine.

I am wanting to go back this year for a 2 week holiday. Attached is the visa I had - multiple entry, indefinite? How can this have been overtstayed? Can it possibly be that they made an error with my daughter and I won’t have any issues?

Answer 1

How can this have been overtstayed?

Because the validity of a US visa has nothing to do with the allowable duration of stay on any one visit.

When you entered the US, you would have been authorized for a period of stay, normally six months. There would have been a separate piece of paper that the immigration officer would have stamped with the same stamp seen in the image. Additionally, on the line at the bottom of the stamp would have been written "B-1" or "B-2" and a date would have been written or stamped. That date was the end of your authorized period of stay.

See What were the indefinite validity visas that used to be issued by the US before VWP was created? on this site for more information about the visa itself.

As you can see from the answers to the linked question, the visa in the image is no longer valid, despite its having been issued with unlimited validity. Therefore, to fly to the US as a citizen of the UK, you'll need either ESTA authorization or a new B visa. When you apply for ESTA, you'll have to answer yes to the question about previous overstays. Your ESTA application will most likely be unsuccessful, so you will need to apply for a new B visa, and you can disclose your history in the application. If the visa is granted then you can be fairly confident in traveling to the US.