Uscis Policy Manual 90 Day Rule

Depending on the type of visa you use to enter the United States, this may or may not affect the steps you should or should not take, especially when it comes to applying for permanent residence shortly after you arrive. For example, those who have a single-intent visa and quickly marry a U.S. citizen or permanent resident after entering the U.S. can raise serious red flags with USCIS and face penalties, especially if immigration officials suspect that you misled them about your true original intentions. The 90-day rule was a guideline used by USCIS until 2021 that assumed that temporary visa holders who came to the U.S. on a single-intent visa and then applied for a green card or married a U.S. citizen/permanent resident within 90 days of entry falsified their true original intentions. We recommend that our customers wait 90 days, but USCIS has arbitrarily enforced it. Therefore, there is a rule that is not applied uniformly.

In this guide, you`ll learn what specific actions can trigger punishments with USCIS, how to demonstrate your intention to return home, and more. In particular, the fact that a false statement took place while the person was under 18 years of age is not determinative. There is no categorical rule that a person under the age of 18 cannot legally make a deliberate misrepresentation. However, a person may claim that, on the basis of the facts of his own case, he or she has been unable to form an intentional intention to distort a material fact. Those with a dual-intent visa, such as the L-1 or H-1B visa, are exempt from this rule because the visa specifically allows the visa holder to find a way to travel permanently to the United States. Don`t forget to read our full article on the 90-day rule for a full overview [see article]. What is the best way to protect myself from the 90-day rule? On this date, you must add 90 days and you will close the date, which is the last to count in your ad under the 90-day rule. Essentially, the rule used by the State Department indicates fraud in cases where a foreigner acts within the first 90 days in a manner inconsistent with the original intent of the visa. That`s not to say that single-intent visa holders can never change their mind once they come to the U.S. when they meet someone they want to marry or apply for a green card, but the burden of proof is on them to prove that their intentions were not wrong in the first place. If your professional or personal conditions have changed significantly during the 90-day period, it is best to consult an immigration lawyer before attempting to obtain permanent residence.

In addition, the 90-day rule means that aliens admitted to the U.S. for up to three months, like many visa waiver programs and users, have limited leeway to adjust permanent resident status without triggering the 90-day rule. You must wait 90 days to avoid breaking the rule before applying for an adjustment of status or before marrying a green card holder or U.S. citizen. You can refer to your I-94 arrival/departure record to determine your entry date. The 90-day rule applies to your last entry into the United States. If you have multiple I-94 forms or multiple entries, always refer to the most recent entry. Under the 90-day rule, the DOS applies a presumption of misrepresentation to any conduct that (1) is inconsistent with assurances given by a person to obtain a visa; and (2) within 90 days of entry into the United States. Note that the 90-day rule only applies to decisions made after September 1, 2017. To address this issue, USCIS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services developed the 90-day rule, which states that temporary visa holders who marry a U.S.

citizen or lawful permanent resident, or apply for a green card within 90 days of arriving in the United States, are likely to have violated the terms of a nonimmigrant visa. The 90-day rule is a judicial instrument of DOS. As such, it is not binding on USCIS agents. However, USCIS can give advice on the 90-day rule, and it will likely do so in the same way it sometimes indicated to the previous 30/60-day rule. In general, a person should ensure that they behave in a manner consistent with their non-immigrant status and the declarations they make to obtain a visa or such status. A person who has questions about whether particular behavior is permitted or otherwise appropriate under their non-immigration status should consult an experienced immigration attorney for case-specific advice. The 90-day rule most often applies to non-immigrant visitors. To learn more about permitted activities for non-immigrant visitors, please read our articles on visitor status B1 [see article] and B2 [see article]. The 90-day rule applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders who have entered the United States temporarily. The 90-day visa is different from the 90-day rule.

The K-1 visa is a nonimmigrant fiancée visa that allows the foreign-born fiancé to enter the United States to marry his wife. They must marry within this 90-day period, otherwise the foreign bride must return to her country of origin. If you are interested in a K-1 visa, visit this page. Nonimmigrant visas, or «single-intent» visas, are issued to aliens to enter the United States with the intention of leaving and returning to their home country after a certain period of time. Conversely, there are dual-intent visas, such as L-1 or H-1B visas, which explicitly allow the visa holder to find a way to settle permanently in the United States. The 90-day rule does not apply to foreigners with dual-intent visas, but to those with single-intent visas misleading USCIS officials about their true intentions to come to the United States. Prior to the policy manual changes, USCIS used a «30/60 rule» to assess the intent of a non-immigrant applicant. Because the 90-day rule is relatively new, there is little guidance on how USCIS relates to it in practice. However, given the similarities between the 90-day rule and the previous 30/60-day rule, it is likely that USCIS will refer to the 90-day rule to orient itself in the same way as the 30/60-day rule. To learn how USCIS relied on the 30/60-day rule to determine whether a person made false statements about their intentions when applying for a visa or entering the United States, please read our article on a number of unpublished decisions of the USCIS Office of Administrative Appeals (AAO) on the subject [see article].