I arrived in the US on September 2, on an ESTA. I got my (European) passport stamped as admitted under the Visa Waiver Program as a tourist (WT), valid for 90 days, until November 30th. My original plan was to leave the US on November 25.
On October 11th, I left the US for a short visit to Europe; I returned to the US on October 22nd. To my surprise, my passport was stamped again with a WT status for 90 days, valid until January 19, 2019.
Now I'm trying to figure out whether I can stay in the US until December 5th. The situation looks a bit contradictory:
- December 5th is more than 90 consecutive days of my first admission, so NO.
- I was away for 11 days, so by December 5th I will not have been in the US for 90 days, so YES, but I think the limitation is about consecutive days, so NO.
- I have a stamp in my passport saying I can stay until January 19th, and the previous admissions are irrelevant. So YES.
What's the correct way to think about this?