Maca44

My 20 year old son has been approved as an exchange student to LSA, Baton Rouge in a couple of months. He has no criminal record; received all the relevant documentation; attended the US Embassy in Sydney and was granted a J1 Student Visa.

That J1 visa ends on 31 December 2014, and he has a 30 day period after the end of his J1 Visa which takes him up to the end of January 2015. He intends travelling for a period after he finishes college, and therefore booked his return flights out of LAX in mid February.

My question is: after that 30 day grace period for his J1 Visa at the end of January, (and he is planning on travel south outside the US, Cancun etc, can he re-enter the USA under the Visa Waiver Program?

Alternatively, does he need to return to the US Embassy and apply for a further visa?

Mods please move to the appropriate threat if required.

cbn42

If he overstays the visa by failing to depart before it expires then that may cause complications. I would recommend he either depart by the end of January or look into getting the visa extended.

GenevaFlyer

It's a tricky one. Here's information from the US Embassy in Canberra:

http://canberra.usembassy.gov/vwp/mexico_canada.html

So it would be best to check with the US Embassy.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Maca44

Thank you for your assistance.

I thought having a 'know all' 21 year old daughter was a problem, forgot about the 20 year old son.

asarma

Check with the US Embassy as it is probably not possible to go into the country on the visa waiver program after an expired J1 visa. It is important not to overstay on any type of visa as this can affect your ability to reenter the country in the future. If in doubt, get professional help and don’t chance it as you wouldn’t want to cause problems for the sake of a couple of weeks in Cancun or Canada.

SDQBound

Short answer: No, he cannot. He must apply for a B1/B2 visa or go back to Australia before entering the US using VWP.