Can you travel on a one way airfare to the US

[globallocal]

Can anyone shed some light on this subject.
My wife is joining me on a trip to the U.S. and returning with me on our company aircraft.
The rules under the visa waiver program state you need a return ticket to enter the states.
I have been told before that if she produces a letter from our company stating that she is returning on our aircraft this will suffice, and she will not need a return ticket.
can any one help?

global local

[JetPark]

You are correct, provided you can suopply appropriate proof / documentation, this will not be a problem. I have done this before and it often happens when, for example, one takes a one way ticket as a Pilot to collect and ferry an aircraft out of the US back to the country of origin of the ticket.

[globallocal]

yes done that myself, but I have a c1/d visa, she does not.

[JetPark]

I have the same visa and did not experience any problems - just clear it with your nearest US Embassy prior to departure. I did the same thing out of South Africa.

[globallocal]

just want to clarify, this is not for me, it is for my spouse who is not a crew member. you can always show your lic. and ID when doing it as crew if you don't have a visa. as i have done that before.

[JetPark]

Sure - I was in the same situation. What I did was to take her to the US Embassy and explain the situation. All I had to do was to provide proof that my partmer was to accompnay me back on the aircraft. It was a painful experience and took time but I did get it right. This was 2 years ago and not sure how they would see this these days?

Sorry - I was a bit unclear there!

[bfato]

Has anyone tried buying two one way tickets instead of a return? The ticket out being the cheapest available but the ticket home being the fully refundable sort, to be cancelled at some point after clearing US immigration.

I had an email from the embassy last year agreeing I could do that and surrender the I-90 card to an immigration officer in Canada, but the trip was cancelled so I didn't get to put theory into practice.

That said, had there been sufficient time to organise a visa beforehand I would have preferred to done so.

[globallocal]

I'll let you know because thats we have done. just to be safe. two one ways with the second leg fully refundable. so once my wife is in we will cancel it. should work in principle.
GL