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British tourist detained by US authorities for 10 days over visa issue

(www.theguardian.com)
205 points n1b0m | 2 comments | 10 Mar 25 18:32 UTC | HN request time: 0.403s | source
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decimalenough ◴[10 Mar 25 19:58 UTC] No.43325298[source]▶
If she is on a "four-month backpacking trip around North America" and tried to return to the US, she has exceeded the 90-day limit allowed by the Visa Waiver Program (which counts days both in the US and "adjacent territories") and is now an illegal overstayer. The unpaid labor stuff and getting refused entry to Canada is icing on the cake.

For the record, I'm no fan of ICE/CBP, but it looks like they're just enforcing the law here.

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1. gobblegobble2 ◴[10 Mar 25 20:15 UTC] No.43325546[source]▶
The article says "[she] was told she should have applied for a working visa, instead of a tourist visa", so it's fair to assume she had a proper B2 tourist visa, which lets you stay for 6 months.
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2. decimalenough ◴[10 Mar 25 23:57 UTC] No.43327622[source]▶
VWP/ESTA is a "tourist visa" in all but name, and it's much more likely that a UK citizen would be using this instead of going through the full B2 visa application rigmarole.