Open your web browser and start filling out forms and submitting at https //USCIS.gov

Six months a year on visa exception, beyond that they will deny tourist visa at embassy or at entry to country. If you AU people want to visit more than that you need to pay some money for DTV or get married to Thailand and make the dowery bank deposit

6 months a year before you need a DTV

Wait till January and start the visa exempt journey for another 6 mounths

For cash, the best way is to open a Schwab checking account which allows you to zelle money into it and allows you to withdraw from ATM machines with no currency conversion fee and all ATM fees refunded. If your charging stuff and want to keep it off your American banks credit/debit card then the wise card or wise virtual card (in GPay or apay on phone) is best way

You might want to establish an address in the US at one of the places fulltime RV owners use and get on Medicare, outpatient part b is only $200 a month plus a medigap plan that covers overseas travel. The only reason to come back here and use it is if you get a cancer.

I'll bet they couldn't find your DTV in the computer and they were having the other officers verify the sticker is authentic and needs to be entered into the computer after the supervisor overrides the entry and changes it to dtv. Same thing happened to me on on a online extension of a 30 day exception.

Buy a dummy or onward ticket for less than $20 to get a reservation code a few hours before you need to show it. Google will make a list of this for you

If you want to do more than 6 or 9 months in a calander year without spending a few weeks in another country to look like a tourist, take a Thai boxing or Thai cooking class that will give you the letter for a DTV visa. You can visit all year for 5 years on that with mutiple 180 day extension

Haha, trying to be your own tour guide. English and white skin only open the door, ya gotta pull the wallet out and pay a Thai speaker to get anything done.