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Visa Validity and How Long You Can Stay
These are two different numbers set by two different agencies, and confusing them is the most common misunderstanding in U.S. nonimmigrant travel. The Foreign Affairs Manual says so in as many words.
This page explains what the rules are and where they come from. It is not legal advice.
Everything below is from 9 FAM 403.9-4 (CT:VISA-1835; 09-20-2023), read on 21 September 2026.
The manual's own framing
A visa is not the same as immigration status. Many travelers confuse the two. A visa does not entitle the bearer to enter or remain in the United States.
The validity of a visa refers to the time in which an applicant may make application to an immigration officer at a port of entry for admittance. It has no bearing on the length of time for which the individual may be admitted.
A visa is permission to ask. What you get when you ask is decided at the border by DHS.
The FAM's own example, which is worth memorising
a traveler whose B-1 visa may expire a month after entry into the United States, could be admitted by a DHS officer at POE for a stay of up to one year. On the other hand, a traveler whose B-1 visa has a validity of one year may be granted a stay of only one month.
Both directions. A visa about to expire does not shorten your stay, and a long visa does not lengthen it.
This is also why unlawful presence runs from the authorized period of stay and not from the visa's expiry date — see what the previous-travel section screens for, where the statute and the bars are set out.
What "expired" means
An "expired NIV" means a visa which is no longer valid due to the passage of time or because the maximum number of entries for which the visa is valid has been reached.
So a visa can expire by being used up, not only by running out of time. If yours is a single-entry visa, it is spent after one admission even if the date on it is years away.
How long a visa can be issued for
The maximum validity of any NIV is 10 years but may be limited to less than 10 years based on reciprocity.
Reciprocity is the reason two people of different nationalities get different validity for the same visa class: the schedules "reflect the visa policy of the government of that country towards U.S. citizens." An officer may issue for shorter than reciprocity allows in an individual case, and must record why.
One line is worth quoting for anyone applying outside their home country:
The fact that an application is made away from the applicant's normal place of residence is not, by itself, reason to limit visa validity.
Being a third-country applicant should not, on its own, cost you validity — which sits alongside what the same manual says about where you are allowed to apply.
Single-entry versus multiple-entry
You may not routinely issue single-entry visas when the Reciprocity Schedule allows the issuance of multiple-entry visas.
The FAM gives its reasoning, and it is practical rather than abstract. Caribbean cruises stop at several U.S. and foreign ports in one trip; passengers holding single-entry visas may be denied boarding by a line that would otherwise risk a fine. Travellers transiting the United States, or going on to Mexico or Canada and returning, "can be stranded during their trip without a multiple-entry visa."
Managers keep discretion to issue single-entry where an itinerary genuinely needs only one and circumstances warrant it.
The two-entry visa
Where reciprocity allows only a single entry, a two-entry visa can be issued for one journey:
- You must be seeking admission for the same principal purpose each time
- It is valid for no more than two applications for admission
- It applies to all nonimmigrant categories except K visas
- A "single journey" means you will not travel back to your country of residence between the two entries
On fees, a precise detail: where a reciprocity fee applies to a single-entry visa, that fee is doubled for a two-entry visa — but the MRV fee is not doubled. Only one MRV fee is collected. See what a U.S. visa costs in total.
Frequently asked questions
My visa is valid for 10 years. Can I stay 10 years?
No. Validity is the window in which you may ask to be admitted. How long you may stay is set by DHS at the port of entry and is a separate number.
My visa expires next month. Can I still travel?
If it is valid on the day you seek admission, yes. The FAM's own example describes a B-1 expiring a month after entry whose holder could still be admitted for up to a year.
Does a long visa mean a long stay?
No. The same example runs the other way: a one-year visa may result in a one-month admission.
What does an "expired" visa mean?
Either the date has passed or the maximum number of entries has been used. A single-entry visa is spent after one admission.
Will applying in another country shorten my visa?
It should not. The FAM states that applying away from your normal place of residence is not, by itself, a reason to limit validity.
Can I get two entries if my country only gets single-entry visas?
Yes, in one journey, for the same principal purpose, with a maximum of two admissions and without returning home in between. K visas are excluded, and the reciprocity fee doubles while the MRV fee does not.
Official sources
- 9 FAM 403.9 — NIV issuances, read 21 September 2026; validity is at 403.9-4
- 22 CFR 41.112(c), on issuing for shorter validity than reciprocity prescribes
- Country reciprocity schedules, for the validity and entries attaching to each nationality and class