It’s an age where almost every country is tightening its borders and increasing security in order to keep out unwanted elements and terrorist activities – after the recent spate of destruction on a mass scale, many more visa restrictions are in place. So if you’ve secured a visa to the USA as a tourist, a student, a non-immigrant worker, or in any other non-immigrant category, you must be careful not to abuse the privileges you’ve been given. There are consequences to overstaying your visa, and they’re harsh and could have a severe effect on the rest of your life; so before you’re trapped by visa regulations because of your lack of awareness or your overconfidence, here’s how you can set out to minimize your US visa troubles.
• Know the visa rules of the country you’re traveling to – the rules are different for each country and each type of visa. If you’re not sure, ask a few people who are knowledgeable about these issues, like visa lawyers or others who are professionally linked to immigration offices.
• Do not overstay your visa by even a few hours – you may assume that it’s ok, but it’s actually not. You will have to face severe consequences by overstaying your visa, for whatever reason.
• If you need to overstay your visa or desire a change in the status of your application, file for an extension well in advance. Even if your application is pending, you could have to leave the US for your home country and return when your visa has been approved. Check with an experienced visa lawyer about the rules regarding extension of stay and change in status of visa.
• If you have overstayed your visa for any period of time, you could not be allowed back into the country for as many as 10 years. Check with your visa lawyer to see what consequences you could be facing and how to negate them if you’ve overstayed your visa.
• If you overstay your visa, your application may not be considered favorably even if you apply for a visa after serving your three or ten year ban.
• Don’t violate the terms of your visa – if you are not permitted to work, then don’t do so; if you are not permitted to study, then don’t do so – violating the terms of your visa too could get you deported and bring about a ban on future visa applications.
• Remember, even if you hold a valid visa, the country you are trying to visit could still refuse you right of entry at the immigration point if they find that your answers are not satisfactory. So know what you must do and say in order to honor your visa and be a respected guest in the USA.
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This guest post is contributed by Chris Jacobson who writes on the topic of Criminal Justice Degrees . Chris can be reached at his email id: chris.jacobson7-AT-gmail-Dot-com