Can I get another visa to return to the US?

Question

I went to Hawaii USA last January 22, 2016 to take my National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) on January 27 2016.I am from the Philippines. Upon arriving at the airport, the immigration officer allowed me a 6-month stay. My intended date going back to my country was on February 3 2016 but since I failed the exam, I stayed and I took another one on July 19, 2016 in Glendale, California, which I also failed. My mother and two sisters are in California.

I returned to the Philippines on July 19 2016 and my visa expired July 21 2016. Did I violate any immigration rules?

Now, I want to visit my sick mom in California. Can I go back for this reason? By the way, the visa that I used to go to the US was single entry B1 visa with an annotation that the purpose of my travel was to take the exam. I am anxious that I might be refused another visa, because I have been refused once already.I was denied the first time before I went to US.I was applying to take the October 27 2015 exam to CA but the consul asked me if I have relatives in the USA.I honesly said "yes". The consul stood still for a while as if he was having a second thought of giving me the visa.He said " excuse me for a minute" then he talked to someone else then when he came back he said he can't give me the visa.He advised me to just instead take the exam on Guam or Hawaii.Maybe that's why I wasn't denied the next time I applied to Hawaii.My reason for staying almost the entity of my visa is because I had to take another exam on July 19 2016.I am not currently petitioned by anybody to migrate in the US.Way back we were petitioned(whole family) by my uncle but by the time our petitioned was approved I was already 26 so I couldn't go with them.

Answer 1

Did I violate any immigration rules here?

So far as you did not stay beyond your I-94 date, you did not overstay or break the immigration law on overstaying.

What is an I-94?

The Arrival and Departure Record is the I-94, in either paper or electronic format, issued by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer to foreign visitors entering the United States. After April 30, 2013, most Arrival and /or Departure records will be created electronically upon arrival. Instead of a paper form, the visitor will be provided with an annotated stamp in the foreign passport. If provided a paper form, the admitting CBP Officer generally attaches the I-94 to the visitor's passport and stamps the departure date on the form.

In both circumstances, an electronic I-94 or paper I-94, the visitor must exit the U.S. on or before that date stamped on the form or in the passport.

Now I do not know if you broke other immigration rules like not working etc. However aside from leaving before the date on the I-94, there is another consideration, did you leave before the date you said you would? For example in 1998 I applied for a visa to visit the USA saying I would stay for one month. I was issued a one year multiple visa. When I entered the USA, I was given 6 months on my I-94. I ended up staying 5 months and 3 weeks before departing. Next time I went to renew my visa which was supposed to be a routine affair without an interview, my application was denied because I stayed longer than I said I would stay previously. So although I did not break the law because I left before the date on my I-94, I was unreliable and hence was denied. That is the problem you might face.

Your case is somewhat similar, but you had a more acceptable to stay somewhat longer although in my opinion you did stay a bit too long. Your chances of getting the visa are 50/50.

Now, I want to visit my sick mom in California. Can I go back for this reason?

Visiting a sick relative is an acceptable reason to visit the USA.