Hello,
I’m a Canadian who has been living with my girlfriend in the US for almost 6 months on a B2 visa. Canada just recently announced that fully vaccinated residents are free to return without the hotel quarantine starting on July 5th. My I-94 end date is July 4th, but obviously it makes way more sense for me to stay the extra day or two in order to avoid the ~$2000 mandatory hotel stay. I’ll also be seeing elderly family members once I’m home and although I am fully vaccinated, I’d rather not be forced to stay in the hotel quarantine with international travellers who may not be.
I have contacted USCIS about extending for a couple days so that I can avoid overstaying. They advised me that satisfactory departure would likely be my best option and forwarded my request to the local field office. I’m currently waiting to see if the field office will be requesting more information from me. I noticed, however, that satisfactory departure is meant for travellers who entered the US on the Visa Waiver Program. Would I still be eligible for this extension option, even though I’m a Canadian on a B2? I understand that Visa holders are meant to use form I-539 to extend their stay, but seeing as my extension will only be for a matter of days it seems like the ~$400 application fee is excessive. Could someone let me know what the best option is to extend for those 2 or 3 days? Will my satisfactory departure request likely be denied, and I should be prepared to file the I-539?
Thanks.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/o7s1bl/satisfactory_departure_or_eos/