Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing so-called carousel, the US Tourist Visa “carousel” if you will. What are we talking about here? I actually saw this when I was reading, I never heard it like called this but it is a pretty good name for a phenomenon. What are we talking about? Okay US Tourist Visas, a B-1/B2 Visa to the United States. These are generally multi-entry visas issue usually these days with a 10-year validity although that is not mandatory. The Consular Officers at a US Embassy or Consulate can decide how long they want the Visa sticker to last for so it is sort up to them. In any event, you have got your Tourist Visa, it's designed for tourism purposes or business and tourism however you want to look at it but short trips to the United States, very much a Non-Immigrant Visa, truly a Tourist Visa, so what is this “carousel” we are talking about?

One of the if you will attributes of the US Tourist Visa is it is multi-entry and in theory it is supposed to grant status for the duration that one needs it for. So in theory, if you have the quietest Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in America where the person was literally looking at the documentation in detail of every single person passing through that particular border checkpoint, it is very possible and I remember a time when they would do this more frequently although it wasn't like all the time, they would look at the documentation and they would say, "how long do you want to be in the United States?" "Well, I am planning to be here for a 3-week trip." "Okay I will give you 4 weeks." Boom, that's it. Because the thinking is, okay you are going to be here for the duration you need to be here, we are not going to give you any more time than that. Now due to efficiency issues the officers at US Customs and Border Protection especially these days, routinely will just tick over the next day on their stamp and they will grant the max. amount of time. They will grant 6 months generally because they just tick over the next day on their stamp. They don't want to have to reset their stamp every time they admit someone to the United States, that is just not something they particularly want to do. So for efficiency purposes, they just keep the next day rolls over every midnight on their stamp, their entry stamp to the United States, and they tick it over by one day and give six months to the next day of lawful status in the United States. Now the issue with this is, if people use that sort of correctly and okay I need to be in America for three weeks, I got six months stamped but I only used it for three weeks and I left, no big deal. But this carousel comes about when people try to come into the United States, stay for 6 months, leave for a week, return and get another 6 months. That can turn into a real problem when one is dealing with trying to enter and exit the USA. In fact, and this is where deportation may come up, there may be a determination made by USCBP that the person trying to enter the United States is what is called an "Intending Immigrant without proper documentation" and then that person can be turned around. They can be given the option of voluntary departure but they will basically be told "you're not going to be admitted; we believe you are an intending immigrant without proper documentation.” If allowed to voluntary depart it basically means okay, you've lost your Tourist Visa but there are no hardcore, long-term implications for that. Now if they opt, depending on the underlying circumstances, to put one through what is called “expedited removal”, which is essentially a deportation proceeding albeit a truncated one, then under those circumstances that person may be barred from re-entering the United States for 5 years and even after that 5-year period, might be really serious difficulties getting into the United States most notably depending on the circumstances there may be a finding of inadmissibility as well and if that finding is made, it may not be able to overcome it even after 5 years without a waiver. So again there can be substantial ramifications associated with the improper use of a US Tourist Visa.