How can I check if I am banned from travelling to the US?

Question

I am a UK citizen and I last entered the US in 1998 under the Visa Waiver Program.

I overstayed the maximum permitted time, leaving after approximately 21 months total stay. At no time was I contacted about my stay whilst there or upon leaving.

I have heard that this incurs a ten year travel ban, but if so, this should have expired by now. Unfortunately I cannot find concrete information and the US embassy told me there was no expiry to a travel ban but did not give me specific information to my own situation.

How can I find out if I will be permitted to enter the country again as a tourist, whether under visa waiver, or applying for a visa, or not at all? Will there be fees involved? I don't want to end up being denied at the point of entry.

Sorry if I have missed any needed info to answer this question.

Answer 1

The ban is a matter of law based on the facts of your situation. You can look at the law and make your own determination about whether you are currently under a ban based on the facts of your situation. Various bans have various durations, specified in the law.

You can't ask the US government whether you currently have a ban -- in many cases they don't even know (e.g. you could have a criminal conviction abroad they don't know about that causes a ban for crimes, or they may not know exactly when you left because there is no record of people leaving by land so they can't determine whether you have an unlawful presence ban, etc.), until you try to apply for some benefit that requires you to be admissible (e.g. a visa or ESTA or entry), at which time they will examine the facts of your situation (which are asked about on various questions on the visa application, for example) to determine whether a ban currently exists according to the law.

Based on your description, you triggered an INA 212(a)(9)(B) 10-year unlawful presence ban when you left the US (in about 2000?) after having accrued more than 1 year of "unlawful presence". That ban would be long over and so is not relevant now. Nothing else from what you have said indicates you might have any other bans, but it's possible you may have other bans from issues you have not disclosed (e.g. criminal convictions, drug use, etc.).

Having overstayed on VWP in the past makes you ineligible to use the VWP ever again, according to INA 217(a)(7). So you must apply for a visitor visa to visit the US (unless you become a Canadian citizen, as they don't need US visas).

Not having a ban doesn't mean you will be able to get a visa and/or entry. Many foreigners who have no bans get denied visas and/or entry all the time. The officer can always deny visa and/or entry for the generic reason of "failing to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent". This determination is made anew each time you apply for a visa and cannot be predicted ahead of time.

Answer 2

Some airports (including Dublin which is near you as you said you're in the UK) have pre-clearance facilities - this means you can clear customs and immigration before you fly, and find out if you will be denied entry before you arrive in the US.

From Dublin airport's webpage about this:

The US Pre-clearance (USCBP) facility at Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport is a purpose built facility that allows US bound passengers to undertake all US immigration, customs and agriculture inspections at Dublin Airport prior to departure.

and

Passengers arriving in the US are treated as domestic arrivals, allowing them to avoid immigration queues upon arrival and pick up their bags and go.

I thought you could try clearing customs first and buying a ticket afterwards if that is successful but (as Zach Lipton mentions) this would not be possible, but at least it would still save you 2 long unnecessary flights if you did get denied. But you should try to get a visa before you get to this stage anyway.