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I was 10 when I went to the U.S with my parents. I overstayed on my tourist visa. However, I left on my own after turning 18 within 180 days. So I'm not applicable for a ban.

When I returned to my country in '09, I applied for a tourist visa next year '10 right away and got rejected. I was 19 back then. However, I didn't disclose any previous stay information and the VO didn't ask anything about my previous stay. I had help filling the form too so I was influenced not to mention any history.

I'm 27 now, a skilled worker in my own country, I have a bachelor degree, I have traveled a few countries and have a good financial stability.

Should I apply for a tourist visa again, this time disclosing my previous stay or should I apply for a student visa? What would be a clever move here? I do have strong ties to my country.

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    Related: Visiting the US after overstaying as a minor 13 years ago?. Anything but disclosing your previous overstay (it is still an overstay irregardless of the ban) is terrible advice (assume they know it already and catch/caught you on a lie). Answer to last question depends on what you want to do, not our call. If all you want is go to US no matter how, question yourself.
    – mts
    Nov 13 '16 at 8:09
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    What is the reason for your visit to the US?
    – Michael Hampton
    Nov 13 '16 at 8:56
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    In general, clever moves are a mistake. Think about your real plan in visiting the USA. Look at the visa rules to see if it is permitted. If so, apply for the appropriate visa type for your actual plan. If not, travel elsewhere.
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Nov 13 '16 at 9:05
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    "I had help filling the form too so I was influenced not to mention any history." ... you mean you lied on your application?
    – Lilienthal
    Nov 13 '16 at 22:11
  • Hi @dylan Cole. U and I have a similar situation. Did you get to reapply and if so what was the outcome?
    – Worldtourist
    Dec 8 '18 at 15:23
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Have a look to Visiting the US after overstaying as a minor 13 years ago? which is basically your case with the difference of the OP there asking whether being eligible for ESTA. The main take-away is that even though you do/did not have a ban, you still have an overstay. It is not going away, I'm afraid.

Not disclosing this previous overstay is a very bad idea. While you do not have to volunteer this information, when asked you have to answer truthfully!
You do not disclose why your application in 2009 was rejected but I do take a guess that the fact that you have overstayed but worse you apparently did not disclose it (this kind of stuff is being asked on visa application forms) might have played a role. (Then it might as well not have.)

For your final question, this is not how it works! The idea is that you have a premise and apply for the correct visa. If your only premise is wanting to go to the US no matter what for (and making up a story for the visa you decided to apply for) then this has a good chance of failure/you riding yourself deeper into the dirt. It is not a question we can answer. If you want to go as a tourist, apply for a tourist visa, if you want to study, apply for a student visa, if ... you get the idea?!

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  • If I disclose my previous stay information now while apply for any kind of visa, won't there be an inconsistency to my previous application? Will it be better to stay consistent and not disclose information this time too?
    – Dylan Cole
    Nov 14 '16 at 7:04
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    I think it highly likely that your previous application was rejected because it was not truthful. Staying consistently untrue is unlikely to work.
    – Andrew Lazarus
    Jul 8 '17 at 21:04
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I was 11 when I was taken to be US on a tourist visa. I moved back to my country just before turning 18. When I turned 28, I had a stable job and my situation was a lot better and I wanted to visit the US once more, so I applied for another tourist visa. At the time I didn’t realize the ban wouldn’t apply to me because I overstayed as a minor. In any case I decided to be truthful about my overstayed time and disclosed the information as asked on the application. I was approved for a ten year tourist visa with only a short interview. I think it had a lot to do with my being honest, being a minor, the fact that ten years had gone by and I had a stable job with property in the country. Be truthful.

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