Many persons who come to United States on visitor visa would like extend their visa. They can apply for extension of stay in US. The extension may granted or not granted depending upon the reason for extension, and whether the INS get convinced that the applicant does intend to return to his/her home country after the temporary stay in US.

Please note that you should not apply for extension of stay within 3 months of coming USA otherwise INS may conclude that even before entering USA, you were planning to extend the visa which might be in contrast to what you might have said at the consulate or at the port of entry.

The duration for which the person can stay depends upon the expiration date of I-94, and NOT on the expiration date of visa stamp. The date on visa stamp is irrelevant.

It should be applied between about 4 to 6 weeks before I-94 expires.

Form I-539 (Extension of stay/change of status) should be filed to the nearest service center. You should also send the reason for extension(you could give the reasons like, yet to see the other coast of US etc.), proof of financial support (see Visitor Visa section for this) and a copy of your return tickets(this would be helpful to show that the stay is temporary.)

Fee for filing extension of visitor visa is $120 at present. If a spouse is also included in the same form then its only $10 additional.