US Visa-Free Visit (ESTA): the rule, how days are counted, examples

Summary

With an approved ESTA under the Visa Waiver Program you may stay in the United States for up to 90 days for each admission, for tourism or business. The date that decides is the admit until date on your I-94 record, which the border officer sets when you enter. Trips to Canada, Mexico or the nearby islands do not start a new 90 days: you are let back in for the rest of the first period. The stay cannot be extended and you cannot change to another status. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) runs the rule.

Limit: 90 days for each admission
Period: From the day you are admitted until the date on your I-94
A day counts when: You are in the US for any part of it, starting with the arrival day
Does not reset: Trips to Canada, Mexico or the adjacent islands
Law: Immigration and Nationality Act, section 217, and 8 CFR part 217
Run by: US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Who it applies to

Citizens of the 42 Visa Waiver Program countries, for example the UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia and South Korea, who visit the US without a visa.
Tourists who plan a long trip through the US with a side trip to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.
Business visitors who come for meetings, conferences or contract talks and are not paid by a US employer.
People who visit a partner or family in the US several times a year.

The rule

Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act created the Visa Waiver Program. It lets citizens of the listed countries enter as visitors for 90 days or less without a visa. Before you travel you need an approved ESTA, which is an online travel authorisation. An ESTA only allows you to travel to the border. The CBP officer decides whether you are admitted and until which date.

That date is written in your I-94, the electronic record of your arrival and departure. You can read it on the CBP I-94 website. It is the admit until date that binds you, not your own count of days. In return for travelling without a visa you give up rights that visa holders have: under the programme you cannot extend your stay and you cannot change to another status, such as student or worker.

8 CFR 217.3(b) covers side trips. If you leave the US for foreign contiguous territory, which means Canada or Mexico, or for an adjacent island, you may be readmitted only for the balance of your original admission period. So the days you spend there are taken from the same 90 days. Leaving for another place, such as your home country, ends the admission. A later arrival is a new admission with a new period, but there is no fixed time you must stay away and the officer looks at your whole pattern of travel.

Some travellers cannot use the programme at all. If you have been in Cuba on or after 12 January 2021, or in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia or Yemen on or after 1 March 2011, you generally need a visa from a US embassy or consulate. The same is true for dual citizens of a programme country and Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan or Syria.

Why it exists

The programme makes short trips between the US and trusted partner countries easy, which helps tourism and trade. The 90-day limit and the ban on extensions keep it for real short visits. A person who wants to stay longer, study or work must apply for a visa and be checked by a consulate. The rule on Canada, Mexico and the islands stops people from renewing their stay with a short trip across the nearest border.

Counting the days

You count days from one admission to the US. The count runs on while you visit Canada, Mexico or the adjacent islands, and it ends on the admit until date in your I-94.

After you arrive, open the CBP I-94 website and read your admit until date. Do this after every entry.
Count the day you were admitted as day 1.
Keep counting every day, including days of a side trip to Canada, Mexico or an adjacent island such as the Bahamas or Jamaica.
Stop on the day you leave for a place that is not one of those territories.
Check that your last day is on or before the admit until date. That date decides if your own count differs.

How Countr counts it. Countr counts any part of a day in the US, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands as one day, and compares the total for one admission with 90. Days in Canada, Mexico and the adjacent islands keep counting against the same 90 days, as in 8 CFR 217.3(b). Countr does not read your I-94: it is a day-count view of that record, and the admit until date is what decides. Countr only counts days the phone can see. If your photos or location history have large gaps, some days are missed and the app can show fewer days than you really stayed.

Track US Visa-Free Visit (ESTA) on your phone.

Countr finds your past trips in your photos and keeps counting from there.

Download on the App Store

Examples

One trip of 90 days

Sofia, a Spanish citizen, is admitted in New York on 1 March 2026. Counting 1 March as day 1, day 90 is 29 May 2026. She checks her I-94 the day after she arrives and plans her flight home for a date on or before the admit until date shown there. She cannot ask for more time, even if her plans change.

A trip to Vancouver does not add days

James, a British citizen, enters the US on 1 March 2026. On 20 April he goes to Vancouver for three weeks and returns to Seattle on 10 May. He hopes for a fresh 90 days. Under 8 CFR 217.3(b) he is readmitted for the balance of his first period, so his stay still ends at the end of May, as his I-94 shows. The 21 days in Canada were taken from the same 90 days.

Going home and coming back

Yuki, a Japanese citizen, spends 85 days in the US and flies home to Tokyo. Three weeks later she returns. Japan is not contiguous territory or an adjacent island, so this is a new admission and the officer can give a new period of up to 90 days. The officer can also ask why she is back so soon. If the officer believes she is living in the US through repeat visits, she can be refused entry.

Exceptions

If an emergency stops you from leaving in time, 8 CFR 217.3(a) lets the authorities grant a period of satisfactory departure of up to 30 days. If you leave inside it, you are treated as not having overstayed.
People who have been in Cuba on or after 12 January 2021 generally cannot use the programme and need a visitor visa.
Travel to or presence in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia or Yemen on or after 1 March 2011 generally removes the right to use the programme, with limited exceptions for official and military travel.
The programme covers visits for business or pleasure. Study, work in the US and work as a representative of foreign media are outside it and need a visa.
Citizens of Canada do not use ESTA and are admitted under different rules.

Common misconceptions

“A weekend in Canada or Mexico gives me a new 90 days.”: No. After a trip to Canada, Mexico or an adjacent island you are readmitted only for the rest of your original 90 days. The days you spent there are counted against the same period.
“My ESTA is valid for a long time, so I can stay that long.”: No. An ESTA is a permission to travel to the US that covers many trips. Each stay is still limited to 90 days or less, and the date in your I-94 decides.
“I can extend my stay if I ask before the 90 days end.”: No. Travellers admitted under the Visa Waiver Program cannot extend their stay or change status. The only relief is a short period of satisfactory departure in an emergency.
“There is a rule that I must stay out for 90 days before I come back.”: There is no such rule in the law. But the officer at the border decides each admission, and frequent long stays can lead to questions or a refusal.

Questions and answers

Which islands count as adjacent islands for the ESTA 90 days?

The Immigration and Nationality Act, section 101(b)(5), lists Saint Pierre, Miquelon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, the Windward and Leeward Islands, Trinidad, Martinique and other British, French and Dutch territories in or next to the Caribbean Sea. A trip to any of them does not restart your 90 days. Cuba is on the list, but a visit there removes your right to use ESTA at all.

What happens if I overstay my ESTA by one day?

You lose the right to use the Visa Waiver Program in the future and must apply for a visa for later trips. Longer overstays have heavier results under US law, including bars on returning. Because you gave up the right to a hearing when you used the programme, you can be removed quickly.

Where can I see the exact date I must leave the United States?

On the CBP I-94 website or in the CBP Link app. Enter your passport details and choose the most recent I-94. The admit until date shown there is the last day you may stay.

Do days in Puerto Rico or Hawaii count towards the 90 days?

Yes. Hawaii is a US state, and Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are US territories. Time there is time in the United States.

Can I enter by land from Canada or Mexico with an ESTA?

Yes, but you need an approved ESTA before you arrive at a land border. CBP also encourages travellers to apply for the I-94 in advance. The 90 days are counted the same way as for arrivals by air.

Does the day I arrive in the US count as one of the 90 days?

Count it. Countr counts the arrival day as day 1, which is the careful way to count. The exact last day is the admit until date in your I-94, so read that record after you arrive and plan your departure by it.

Sources

Other rules for United States

Arizona Tax Residence 273 days in each calendar year
California Tax — Visitors 181 days in each calendar year
California Tax Residence 273 days in each calendar year
Connecticut Tax — 30 Days or Fewer 30 days in each calendar year
Connecticut Tax Residence 183 days in each calendar year
Delaware Tax Residence 183 days in each calendar year
Hawaii Tax Residence 200 days in each calendar year
Idaho Tax Residence 270 days in each calendar year

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.