how is period of stay determined once visa is stamped

[sreer]

Hi Everyone,

I have a question about how is the period of stay determined once the Visa is stamped at the Consulate office.

Lets assume that my parents go for appointment on April 10th. ant they request for start Journey of May 1st in their apllication.

Can I assume that if their request is approved, they will be stamped for a start date of May 1st?

And assuming that they are granted Visa for a period of 6 months, will the 6 month period be counted from May 1st to Nov 1st?

If instead of May 1st, they decide to come to US on July 1st. Will their 6 month period still end by Nov 1st?

Please advice, because I need some flexiblity in deciding the start date of their journey for my parents .

Thanks,

Sreer

[dahlia2105]

If their visa is approved on , say April 10, the start date of the visa will be April 10.

[sreer]

Thank you for your reply.

I have a related question. In the Ds-156 form, if I request a 4 month visa, Is it always definite that I will be given a less than or equal to 4month Visa ? Is there a chance they can issue a 6 month visa even though we request a 4 month Visa?


The second question is , If I am granted a 4 month Visa at the Consulate office, Can I assume I will also be given a 4 month visa at the Port of Entry? Or it it upto the officer at the POE to decide on the period of stay?

Thank You.

[dahlia2105]

Evenif u ask 4 mths in DS 156, u normally get ATLEAST 6 months.

Qn2: Its up to the POE officer to decide.

[sreer]

so, in other words, its really the period of stay granted by the POE that really counts?

we are expecting our baby in August. Because the need for help will be more after the baby is born , we would like the start date for my parents to be not earlier than mid July. But we got the interview appointment for April last week.
Based on the replies, it looks like even though we put in the Visa request for a start date of July 15, once the Visa is stamped, the Visa period really starts from April 20 th, which is the Interview date?

In other words, we will be losing 3 months of Visa period even if our journey start date is July 15th?

[dahlia2105]

ok. Assuming that u got ONE YEAR visa on april 1, 2006. The visa will be valid until April, 2007 (aprox.). U can travel any time in between these dates. Assume that u travel only on March 2007. Eventhough u have only one more month of visa left, ur period of stay is determined at the POE (I94 stamping). In other words, if u get 6 months of stay (at POE) in March 2007, U can stay here until September 2007.

[sreer]

Raj,

Thank you for the clarification.

I have a different kind of question.

Besides, a checking Account, I have some CDs. Is it ok if I send photo copies of the CDs along with the Bank statement to substantiate my finances?

The CDs and checking account are from different banks. hence instead of waiting for the Banks with CDs to send a separate statement, I assume I can just send phto copies of the CD certificates .

Please advice.

Thanks

[dahlia2105]

yes, u can