Most people have a friend or a friend-of-a-friend who stuffed up their American tourist visa waiver and ended up in more trouble than it’s worth (hint: sleeping in on the day of your flight is less of a funny story when you end up banned from the United States and its territories for 10 years).
This is a pretty wild one. A Canberra man has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities after overstaying his visa by just over an hour. Baxter Reid, 26, is now imprisoned at Buffalo Federal Detention Centre, where he could face up to six months in jail before his case is heard by a judge.
Reid and his American girlfriend Heather Kancso reportedly travelled to the Canadian border, arriving at 10pm – basically just in the nick of time, visa-wise. According to dad Tom Reid, Canadian authorities “kept them until 1:30am and then they refused them entry.”
Reid’s five-year visa requires him to leave the United States every six months before renewing it.
“He’s got to wait two to three weeks before he gets a date to appear,” Tom said. A GoFundMe has been started to raise money for Reid’s legal effort.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to Fairfax Media they were providing assistance to an Australian man detained in the US, but could not divulge any further info.
Source: Canberra Times.
Photo: Facebook.
