Some passengers sailing on the Sunday May 12, 2019 13-Night Eastbound Transatlantic Cruise (EBTA) from Miami to Barcelona are hearing from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency they may be overstaying their visas. In some cases, other passengers are not even aware of the issue.
The issue at hand: some international passengers who traveled to the United States on an ESTA visa to board the Disney Magic in Miami are still marked as ‘not departed‘ from the United States even though they are now back at home following the transatlantic crossing which arrived in Barcelona on May 25th.
The 2019 EBTA cruise aboard the Disney Magic included 5 ports of call, all outside of the United States: Ponta Delgada (Azores), Lisbon, Cádiz, Málaga, and Cartagena, Spain.
Passengers from the May EBTA cruise shared the following email from CPB.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hopes you have enjoyed your stay in the United States. As a reminder, temporary visitors must comply with their terms of admission, and depart the United States on or before your admit until date. Our records show your admission will expire with the next 10 days.
You can visit https://I94.cbp.dhs.gov for additional information regarding your I-94 (Record of Admission), your admit until date, and other frequency asked questions. You will need your name, date of birth and passport number to access the information.
email correspondence from CBP
The FAQ section on the CBP website regarding the above email does not detail what to do if you already left. It only states the following, “If you received an email indicating that you have 10 days left on your admission, there is no immediate action to take. The email is automatically generated based on the admission date you received upon entry and serves as a reminder about the time you have left in the United States. In order to comply with your terms of admission, you must either leave by 11:59 PM on the last day of your admission (the date on your I-94) or have filed an application with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).“
There is some promising news, as the FAQ goes on to say that the email and/or if the Traveler Compliance Check shows that you overstayed your admission is not a legally binding determination of inadmissibility. Legally binding determinations will be made at the time of application for admission or at the time of application for a benefit with the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of State.
CBP provides the following guidance if you determine your information is incorrect:
- You can contact the CBP Traveler Communications Center at (202) 325-5120.
- You can formally write to the Department of Homeland Security’s Travel Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP). DHS TRIP is a single point of contact for individuals who have inquiries or seek resolution regarding difficulties they experienced during their travel screening at transportation hubs, like airports and train stations, or crossing U.S. borders, including: denied or delayed airline boarding, denied or delayed entry into and exit from the United States at a port of entry or border checkpoint continuously referred to additional (secondary) screening.
You can contact DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) at http://www.dhs.gov/trip.
Or, by mail at the following address:
DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP)
601 South 12th Street, TSA-901
Arlington, VA 22202
Passengers impacted are reporting that Disney Cruise Line has confirmed the information they presented to CBP regarding the May 12, 2019 EBTA sailing from Miami to Barcelona was received correctly. Furthermore, Disney Cruise Line is telling guests they re working with CBP to understand what some passengers received a notification of potentially over-staying their visa.
However, it appears like the best course of action at this time is to individually provide travel documents to CBP as proof of your travels. Given this is an issue at the government level, it is uncertain how much Disney Cruise Line can actually help to resolve the issues for their guests outside of providing
Further Discussion
- DISBOARDS Discussion Forum: HELP! EBTA cruisers, didn’t leave the country?
- Facebook Group: Disney Magic May 12-25, 2019 EBTA Transatlantic
I’m getting a ‘Sorry, this content isn’t available right now’ when I try to visit, but I’ve verified with a member that this is the correct link to the group which is now set as a secret group.
We are US citizens who were on the EBTA cruise in May, and thus we are not directly impacted by this particular issue which relates to non-US citizens. But, I would note that shoreside guest services in Miami was not well organized – worst I have experienced in any departure port. We waited outside the terminal for some time while a backlog of passengers was apparently processed and checked-in. Yet, when we got into the terminal there was not a large line. Furthermore, without explanation, the DCL guest services representative collected our passports and provided a receipt that they were holding our passports. No explanation was provided as to why, and the guest services representative was a bit careless in handling our passports. Prior to boarding the ship, I spoke with a manager from DCL to obtain assurance that the passports were being properly controlled. I was told this was done to ease immigration and customers upon arrival in the EU, and that we would get our passports back before arrival in the Azores. I don’t recall exactly when we got them back, but there were time period set over a few nights to stop by the Port Adventure desk to do so. There was a bit of chaos around this as well! I have to take DCL’s word that the information they sent to CBP was “received correctly”, but do be aware the process was not smooth and ripe for error.
We got the passports back the day after we were on the Azores.
But yes, that was also an issue, they kept telling us our passports needed to be stamped, but we hold EU passports, we don’t get a stamp entering the EU (and we didn’t now), but they still needed our passports.
Agreed. Shoreside in Miami was absolutely awful. By far the worst we have ever experienced in 12 cruises. We are Platinum and there was nobody ahead of us in that line when we arrived. It still took a painful amount of time and we were quite stunned when they took our passports. I understand why but leaving the ship in the Azores with only copies of our documents was a bit unnerving. Everything worked out for us. We are U.S. citizens but plenty of our friends from Europe are having quite the time proving they truly did depart the U.S.
Thank you for posting this. I was also on the EBTA out of Miami. I thought I was just being overly cranky at having waited in that Line outside in the heat for over an hour… the young woman who took my passport failed to provide a receipt or copy of any sort….. so, there I was with my most important document gone…. very stress inducing, and very poorly handled. I had to track down the manager in charge of the passport seizing program to get a xerox…two days later. They act like a paper copy of a passport has some validity, which it does not. The whole thing was just odd and very unsettling.
I will be working on getting all the necessary proof to CBP to ensure this is all sorted before we return later in the year. Our FB page for the cruise is full of comments from many impacted people some who are travelling back to the States soon.
Hi there, just to let you know that this has happened AGAIN for the European travellers on the 2023 transatlantic in May on the Dream!!!