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I just came back from my first journey to the US; I've been there for 20 days. Now I'd like to attend a personal enrichment course in music production that takes 88 days or so to complete.

Ideally, I'll get on a plane right next week, but what I've read about customs on returning travelers scares me a bit. The course must be paid in advance, and I can show the receipt as proof eventually. I'm a freelance web developer, so there's little I can do to prove I'm tied to my home country.

Do you think it would be enough? Am I better off reconsidering my plans? I'd really like to attend this course and come back to the beautiful NYC!

Would my previous stay be a problem? Is 6 hours a week enough to justify my stay there?

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  • Welcome to travel.SE. Can you clarify what your concern is? Are you concerned about overstay? Or obtaining a B1/B2 visa?
    – Karlson
    Commented May 1, 2014 at 21:39
  • @Karlson Wouldn't that rather be being denied entry?
    – Relaxed
    Commented May 1, 2014 at 21:40
  • @Annoyed Then why not state that?
    – Karlson
    Commented May 1, 2014 at 21:44
  • @Karlson Well, sure, why not? I don't think there would be anything wrong with that, either! The thing is that it seemed completely obvious to me until I read your comment. I am often genuinely surprised by your questions… Were you trying to make a point?
    – Relaxed
    Commented May 1, 2014 at 22:21
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    How many hours per week does your course entail? Specifically, more or less than 18 hours per week? Who is the course run by?
    – Doc
    Commented May 2, 2014 at 2:03

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You probably figure it out by now but since it's stated as unanswered I'll share my experience.

I'm Brazilian and I have visited the US for the first time in january (NYC as well). Second time I went there (end of april) I was faced with a bunch of questions like: "Do you know anyone in the US / in NYC?"; "How long do you plan to stay?"; "You have been here in january, what's the purpose of your return?" amongst other questions and some of them repeated a few times...

In case you have a valid passport and visa, and if you left the country within the time period that you told them you would in the first visit, you should be fine. Just remember that a tourist visa is meant for tourism, and if they find out you are going there with other intentions they might not let you in. So if you tell them (and I am not telling you to lie) that you are going for a course, it could potentially be a problem in case you have a tourist visa.

What I told them when I went for the second time was that I didn't have enough time to see everything I wanted to see in my first visit, and since I am a graphic designer that I wanted to visit some of the museums I didn't get to go.

Just be prepared because there should be questions about your early return.

By the way the second time I went there I entered the country through Detroit, but they knew I was going to NYC checking my ticket (or name?) on their system.

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