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Background:

So I was brought into the US under the visa waiver program as an 11 year old child in January 2000. I voluntarily left the country on Sept. 2009 when I was 20 years, 9 months, and 3 days old.

I visited America twice since I left in 2009 under the ESTA VWP - Once in June 2012 and another time in July 2014 via the Visa Waiver (ESTA) program with no problem. On Oct 2nd 2014 I came to visit my brother for his birthday and I was refused entry because of my previous overstay as a CHILD but given Parole to Depart for the duration of my holiday (so I still got to go on vacation.)

The guy told me that I could apply for a B2 visa when I get back to London but I would have to also apply to get my overstay waived. He said I would need to get my overstay waived at the same time as I apply for my visa. My older brother who is a US citizen (by birth) has put a petition for me to become a citizen a few years ago.

My Question:

I've filled in the B2 Visa application. I've disclosed the details above as it would definitely come up in the interview. My question is - is there a specific application that I would fill out to ask to get my overstay waived? Or is that something that is at the discretion of whoever I am talking to?

I'm asking this before I book my interview - thanks a lot.

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    Very interesting. I've never heard of getting an old overstay waived. I have one from 1990 or 1991 that gets in the way a lot because I like Latin America and the cheapest flights there from Australia all go via USA and USA airports have no concept of transit and people with an overstay in their history need a visa no matter their nationality, even just to transit ...
    – hippietrail
    Commented Oct 29, 2014 at 12:53

1 Answer 1

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You seem to have a 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II) 10-year ban.

212(a)(9)(B) is a ban for accumulating a certain amount of "unlawful presence" and then departing the U.S. "Unlawful presence" is somewhat complicated, but for people who were admitted for a fixed period (including VWP), it basically starts accumulating when you exceed that period. There are some exceptions, including one where, for the purposes of 212(a)(9)(B), time before you turn 18 does not count towards "unlawful presence". So then you still have 2+ years after you turned 18 of "unlawful presence". There is a 3-year ban if you accumulate at least 180 days of "unlawful presence" and then depart; and a 10-year ban if you accumulate at least 1 year of "unlawful presence" and then depart.

So you have a 10-year ban starting from when you departed in 2009, which will run out in 2019.

There is no form you have to fill out. The waiver will be applied for together with applying for a B2 visa.

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  • there are some ten to fifteen million people living and working in the USA as "illegal" immigrants. it's not possible to realistically know how something will be handled, by a superficial examination of the rules involved.
    – Fattie
    Commented Apr 22, 2016 at 17:06
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    @Fattie ??? and what does that add to the answer?
    – Hobbamok
    Commented May 10, 2019 at 15:04
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    @Hobbamok - hmm, what I'm saying is: "it's not possible to realistically know how something will be handled, by a superficial examination of the rules involved" Immigration issues are notoriously "case by case" rather than "explicitly by the rules". For better or worse.
    – Fattie
    Commented May 10, 2019 at 15:12

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