Rulebook / Visas & entry / United States
US Visa Waiver (ESTA)
- Day threshold
- 90 days
- Window
- Each single stay
- Direction
- Ceiling — stay at or below
- Counts
- Days in United States; arrival and departure days both count
- Authority
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection
US Visa Waiver (ESTA) caps your time in United States at 90 days per visit. The statute attaches its consequence at 91 days or more, so 90 is the last safe count. Ninety days per admission, and the period cannot be extended while in the United States.
Who it applies to
This matters most if you are:
- A visitor on a short-stay visa or visa waiver making several trips a year.
- A long-term traveller stitching stays together and losing track of the cumulative count.
- Anyone booking a return trip who needs to know the last day they may legally stay.
The rule — and why it exists
US visit length. At most 90 days in United States per visit — written as <=90 / VISIT.
Why it exists: a short-stay allowance is a promise to leave. The cap, and the way it is counted, is what lets a state admit visitors without treating every visit as immigration.
Counting the days
- Count the days of each stay in United States on its own, arrival and departure days included.
- No single stay may exceed 90 days.
- Leaving and re-entering starts a new stay — but frequent or back-to-back visits invite refusal as a de facto resident.
The free calculator below counts this rule with the same engine the Dwelltime app ships.
Check it with the free tool
Examples
Example 1 — A stay of 80 days
Stays: United States 2026-03-01 → 2026-05-19. Checked on 2026-05-19.
Result: US visit length: 10 of 90 days left (80 used in United States).
Example 2 — A stay of 95 days
Stays: United States 2026-03-01 → 2026-06-03. Checked on 2026-06-03.
Result: US visit length: over the limit — 95 of 90 days, first exceeded 2026-05-30.
Example 3 — Two visits of 62 days each
Stays: United States 2026-01-10 → 2026-03-12; United States 2026-06-01 → 2026-08-01. Checked on 2026-08-01.
Result: US visit length: 28 of 90 days left (62 used in United States).
Exceptions & edge cases
- National visas and residence permits. Days spent under a long-stay visa of that country are usually not short-stay days.
- Transit. Airside transit generally does not count; a day on which you cross the border does.
- Overstays. Even a single day over can mean a ban or refused entry; the engine reports the first breaching day.
Common misconceptions
- "Under 90 days means I'm safe." False — other tests can apply, and the count is only one input.
- "I can chain visits." Each visit is counted alone, but a pattern of back-to-back visits is treated as residence.
- "Arrival day doesn't count." Any part of a day inside is a day inside.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 90-day count per calendar year or rolling?
Each single stay. Each stay is measured on its own.
Do arrival and departure days count?
Yes — any part of a day counts as a day.
Where does this rule come from?
U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Visa Waiver Program Requirements. The link is verified on every build; if it stops resolving the build fails.
This rule is tracked in 
Dwelltime
- Counts your days for this rule from the trips you record
- Shows the last safe day, or the days still needed, before you book
- Explains every counted day and every uncounted one
- Runs alongside your other visa, tax and residency rules
Sources
Related rules
- 🇺🇸US Substantial PresenceThis counter is the current year only. The real test weights the two prior years at one third and one sixth — use SubstantialPresenceRule for the full calculation.
<=182 / YEAR - 🇺🇸US FEIE physical presence330 full days abroad in any 12 consecutive months. Days in transit over international waters do not count as days abroad.
>=330 AWAY / 365 - 🇺🇸US naturalization presenceAt least half of the five-year statutory period — 913 days. A single absence of six months or more can also break continuity of residence, which this counter does not track.
>=913 / 1826 - 🇺🇸US green card — absenceAn absence of a year or more is treated as abandonment; six months or more invites questioning at the border. This counter is a conservative 180-day warning over a rolling year and is not the statutory test.
<=179 AWAY / 365 - 🇺🇸New York statutory residenceStatutory residence needs both a permanent home in New York and more than 183 days there. Days recorded only as "United States", with no state, are not counted — they are reported as unknown rather than guessed.
<=183 / YEAR - 🇺🇸New Jersey statutory residenceStatutory residence needs both a permanent home in New Jersey and more than 183 days there. Days recorded only as "United States", with no state, are not counted — they are reported as unknown rather than guessed.
<=183 / YEAR - 🇺🇸Massachusetts statutory residenceStatutory residence needs both a permanent home in Massachusetts and more than 183 days there. Days recorded only as "United States", with no state, are not counted — they are reported as unknown rather than guessed.
<=183 / YEAR - 🇺🇸Connecticut statutory residenceStatutory residence needs both a permanent home in Connecticut and more than 183 days there. Days recorded only as "United States", with no state, are not counted — they are reported as unknown rather than guessed.
<=183 / YEAR
All 38 rules for United States →
For information only. This page is a plain-English summary of publicly available rules, not tax, legal or immigration advice. Rules change and depend on your personal circumstances — always confirm with the official source above and a qualified professional before acting.