U.s. Tourist Visa Not Marked "used" / Is It Multiple Entry?

[WaterBuffalo]

Hello-

My Thai partner (Witaya) and I (U.S. citizen) visited the States for a month last April. Oddly, Witaya's tourist visa still has no marks on it at all. I am used to my own Thai visas, which are stamped "Used" as soon as they are used. Also strangely, the visa was issued with a 10 year validity period. It says it expires in 2015. I assumed and thought we had applied for a single-entry U.S. tourist visa, but is it possible that this is actually the equivalent of a multiple-entry visa? It seems unlikely, but the lack of "Used" stamp and the long expiration date has me wondering. Does anyone have any relevant experience with U.S. tourist visas?

Thanks for any insight.

-WaterBuffalo

Edited November 10, 2006 by WaterBuffalo

[vinny]

See Reciprocity Schedule and Duration & Extension of Stay in the U.S -How the Visa Expiration Date is Different for normal visa issue.

Each visa should indicate the number of entries allowed.

[lopburi3]

The normal US tourist visa is indeed a multi entry non immigrant visa valid for 10 years. It does not indicate a number of entries because there is no limit. But each entry will be restricted to six months or less unless very convincing reasons are provided for a longer period. It may be a pain to obtain but at least it is a long term deal.

[WaterBuffalo]

Thanks Vinny and Lopburi! I went back and looked at the visa again. I don't know how it escaped me when I looked at it before, but this time I noticed it says:

Entry (or Entries, I can't remember)

M

"M" sure sounds like "multiple" more than it does "single", huh. Wow, I had no idea that Witaya had been carrying around a multiple entry visa all that time. I wonder why I never heard about this during the lengthy application saga. Anyway, I'm thrilled! It will make the next time so much simpler. Hopefully we can go back to visit again soon.

Thanks again for the information.

-WaterBuffalo