question on validity of Visa

[gcquest]

Hi,

Usually how long the visitor visa is issued ? i hear some say for 10 years and some say only for 6 months.

Now, i'm trying to get visa for my parents and we havent decided when they will be travelling. So is it advisable to just get the visa and then later on decide about travel dates ... what if they isssue visa only for six months ?

And , say they are not travelling within that 6 months and visa gets expired... so do i need go thru all these procedures from scratch or is there a seperate procedure for Visa extension ??

Someone please explain in detail.

Thanks

[gouthamsri]

The duration of the VISA depends totally on the CO. If they get 6 months VISA they have to travel to USA within that 6 months. If not their VISA will expire and they have to go for their VISA interview (basically the whole process) again all over.

[gcquest]

?

if they get visa for 6 months and travel only in the fifth month ...
meaning they can stay only remainig 1 month (till visa expiry) or
that depends on the I94 validity ? what are the chances when visa expiring in 1 month and I94 granted for 6 months (or for more than 1 month) ?

[dahlia]

stay is determined by the I94 validity. Normaly people get any time bet. 3-6 months evenif they come just before their visa expiry date.

[gcquest]

Thanks ALL.

[VisaChief001]

Once visa is issued, you can enter to US upto the last day of visa. Your stay in US will determined by the POE officer.