Is it possible to extend your stay after entering the US under VWP?

Upvote:2

As blackbird correctly says, you cannot extend a VWP stay. Your options are therefore:

  1. Change your flights to fly home within 90 days.
  2. Fly to another country before the 90 days are up and then back to the US. However note that nearby countries specifically do not reset the visa clock, and won't work for this purpose.'Nearby' is a specific list of countries, including Canada, Mexico and Caribbean countries. The nearest countries that will work for this are in Central America. Also be aware that flying there and then straight back runs the risk of being refused re-entry. Anything that looks like you are trying to game the system can get you refused.
  3. It is possible, but not guaranteed, that the US might let you back into the country for transit. In other words, go to Canada (or Mexico) before the 90 days are up, spend time there (Canada is well worth a couple of weeks) and then book a connecting flight from Canada (or Mexico) to the airport your original home flight departs from, so it arrives as soon as possible before your home flight takes off. There is a certain amount of discretion the CBP officials have, and if it is clear that you intend to re-enter the US only for transit purposes they might allow it. Be aware that this is a high risk option. CBP would have every right to disallow you re-entry to the US, and then you would have lost the flight tickets. You should have the best possible documentation proving that you have a flight out of the US, and intend to use it. It would probably help your cause not to leave the US right on the 90th day. Anything that makes it looks like you are trying to stay longer in the US will weaken your case.

Upvote:13

ESTAs and VWP are not the same thing, I invite to read up more on that.

Since ESTAs are generally valid for 2 years and they only need to be valid when you enter the US and not for the whole stay, I'm guessing that you probably want to extend your stay under VWP. If that's the case, then the answer is no you cannot extend your stay.

You may not apply to extend your stay if you were admitted to the United States in the following categories:

Visa Waiver Program

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