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Ice on Immigration: Travel
and expired visas
By L. Patricia Ice, Featured
Columnist
Question: I am in the United States under temporary religious visa
status, R-1, which expired on July 31, 2006. My dependent family
members have R-2 temporary visa statuses, which also expired in July.
In June, before our visa statuses expired, we filed to extend them for
two more years. We have not yet gotten an approval of the visa
extensions, but we need to leave the United States to go for a month to
our native country. What will be our immigration status if we leave the
United States before the approval of the religious visa extensions?
Answer: I suggest that you wait in the United States until your visa
extensions are approved. If you leave the United States before you are
granted an extension, the government may make a determination that you
overstayed your visa statuses by more than 180 days, making you
ineligible to receive any type of visa for 3 years. This rule, known as
the "3 year bar," applies to anyone who has stayed in the United States
longer than allowed in any visa category by 180 days or more, not just
religious visa holders. There is also a "10 year bar," which forbids
the issuance by the United States government of any type of visa to
anyone who has left the United States after overstaying his visa status
for more than 365 days. An overstay determination is often made if
there has been no visa status extension approval before the person exits
the United States. Before making any decision to travel outside this
country and for more information on this subject, please contact a
qualified immigration attorney or Board of Immigration Appeals
Accredited Representative to discuss your specific case.
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