Queensland woman denied boarding, forced to pay $10k over visa error

The 71-year-old was accused of overstaying her ESTA by 333 days and now faces a three-year ban from visiting the US.

Exclusive: A retired Queensland woman in her 70s was forced to pay over $10,000 to fly home from Canada after an ESTA visa waiver error derailed her world trip.

Seasoned traveller Michelle*, 71, has been to the United States countless times.

Her holiday in June this year, however, may be her last.

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Michelle told 9news.com.au she was wrongly accused of overstaying her Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) visa by 333 days and now faces a three-year ban from visiting the US.

"I'm not going there again. It's just not worth it, it's so terrifying," Michelle said.

"All I want to do is get rid of this thing that's hanging over my head."

Michelle travelled to the US alone after losing her partner three years ago, having booked an expensive cruise from Japan to Alaska and through Canada.

The second leg of her trip involved flying from Calgary to Seattle.

This is when Michelle said she was treated like a criminal.

Arriving at the airport at 3am for a 6am flight, she handed over her passport and waited to receive her boarding pass.

"He ran through my passport and said, 'Hang on a minute'," she recalled.

"Then he came back to me and he said, 'I'm sorry, US immigration has denied you boarding the flight'."

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Do you have a story? Contact reporter April Glover at april.glover@nine.com.au

Michelle wasn't allowed to fly back into the US and was now alone and stuck in limbo in a Canadian airport.

Her attempt at re-entering the US flagged an unfortunate error which has been ruining the holiday of some Australian travellers.

US immigration appears to have failed to record some outbound Australian passengers on cruises and planes after travelling on an ESTA.

Michelle had no idea until she got home that her last departure from the US, a cruise out of Hawaii in 2024, had never been properly recorded by immigration.

With her flight to Seattle now departed, Michelle needed to find a way to get home.

Her travel insurance was due to lapse soon and flights from Canada to Brisbane were almost full.

"It was a terrifying experience travelling by myself as a 71-year-old female," Michelle said.

"I found a premium economy flight going that night from Calgary to Vancouver and Vancouver direct to Brisbane and I'd be home on Sunday morning."

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The last-minute flight certainly wasn't cheap. 

It cost Michelle a staggering $10,749.20 just to get home, along with the cost of another night in a Vancouver hotel and her pre-booked Seattle accommodation.

"It was a very expensive exercise to get home… I didn't feel like having to fork that out at that moment," Michelle said.

"I'm retired and keep these nest eggs for emergencies."

Once Michelle got home, she verified the issue with US Customs and Border Protection.

Documentation cited by 9news.com.au shows Michelle was accused of staying beyond the legal 90 days on her last ESTA, obtained in late 2023, by 333 days.

"Travel records indicate you departed the United States after your authorised period of stay by 333 days," the document reads.

"Depending on the length of your stay, you may be inadmissible into the United States."

The document noted that Section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act carries a penalty of a three-year ban from seeking admission to the United States for a non-immigrant who overstays between 181 and 364 days.

If Michelle had "overstayed" her ESTA by another 34 days, she would face a 10-year ban.

She has now lodged evidence with the US Embassy in Canberra, the Department of Home Affairs and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to prove she didn't break immigration law.

Michelle believes her last cruise in 2024 didn't properly record her departure.

Her ESTA was valid for two years and wasn't supposed to expire until November 2025.

But without properly flagging her exit out of the US, immigration believed she had overstayed the allowed 90 days.

"Every person I've heard of [it happening to] has all been a cruise patron," she added.

Melbourne-based immigration lawyer Sherwin Noorian previously told 9news.com.au this issue sometimes impacts non-US citizens attempting to re-enter the US.

"Customs and Border Protection relies on various data sources such as flight manifests to record departures from the US," he said.

"At times, they fail to record departures for foreign nationals and this may result in an 'overstay' being recorded for the traveller that is not accurate."

Michelle is now waiting for a refund from her travel insurance to recoup the $10,000.

She is yet to hear back from US authorities after lodging the issue with the Traveller Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP).

9news.com.au has contacted CBP for comment but have yet to receive a reply.

*Not her real name

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