I94 Extension after Passport Renewal (3 Options)

USA
22

Hi,
I am glad I found this forum. I am on L1A, my visa expires in Jan 2022. I have a stamp which is expiring in Dec 2020 as my old passport was expiring then. I have a new passport now and would like to get a stamp or extend my I-94 to match with my visa date. I have done the below:

  1. Called and emailed CBP Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Baltimore offices. I live in Harrisburg, PA. They emailed back saying it was not a CBP error hence they cannot extend the I-94. They mentioned that the only option was to leave the country and enter again.
  2. Called the customs and border office at Windsor-Detroit at both Canada and US side. Canadian officer mentioned that since we don’t have a Canadian tourist visa, they will ask us to take a U turn and it will depend on the US officer to issue us the I-94. I called the US side and the officer mentioned that it is very hard on the phone to exactly understand your situation.
  3. Called the customs and border office at Niagara Falls. This border is on foot as I understand. The Canadian officer mentioned that they are not letting people in right now even if we have a visa. Called the US side and the officer mentioned that we can stay in the country without extending the I-94. I mentioned to him if he was sure and he said Yes. I then asked him if we drive till Niagara with all our documents, will he be able to issue us the extension and he said yes.

Now, the larger question is after reading all your comments:
Which border should we go to? Niagara is 300 miles from Harrisburg and Detroit border is about 480 miles.

We are planning to on this Saturday- Oct 3. I understand that they are open 24 hours.

We really want to get this sorted soon. Any comment or advise is appreciated.

Regards,
Mona

23

Thank you Vinoda_Badaga.

Last week we visited windsor tunnel CBP office and extended our I-94. Below steps we followed.

  1. We made a call to CBP office and explined our situation and they replied us they will do it but we have enter windsor tunnel and officers at canda side will make us to take to U turn at thier toll booth.
  2. we went last sunday to windsor tunnel toll both (US side) and paid toll and entered tunnel . After crossing tunnel, Canada side officer at their toll both asked our ids and we explined the reason we want to take U turn to US again. Then they allowed us to take U turn and we reached back to US entry.
  3. At US entry, we explained that need to extend I-94 for my son and they guided to office room where they verified documents and extended I-94.

Thank you vinod,

24

Hi,
I am glad I found this forum. I am on L1A, my visa expires in Jan 2022. I have a stamp which is expiring in Dec 2020 as my old passport was expiring then. I have a new passport now and would like to get a stamp or extend my I-94 to match with my visa date. I have done the below:

Called and emailed CBP Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Baltimore offices. I live in Harrisburg, PA. They emailed back saying it was not a CBP error hence they cannot extend the I-94. They mentioned that the only option was to leave the country and enter again.
Called the customs and border office at Windsor-Detroit at both Canada and US side. Canadian officer mentioned that since we don’t have a Canadian tourist visa, they will ask us to take a U turn and it will depend on the US officer to issue us the I-94. I called the US side and the officer mentioned that it is very hard on the phone to exactly understand your situation.
Called the customs and border office at Niagara Falls. This border is on foot as I understand. The Canadian officer mentioned that they are not letting people in right now even if we have a visa. Called the US side and the officer mentioned that we can stay in the country without extending the I-94. I mentioned to him if he was sure and he said Yes. I then asked him if we drive till Niagara with all our documents, will he be able to issue us the extension and he said yes.
Now, the larger question is after reading all your comments:
Which border should we go to? Niagara is 300 miles from Harrisburg and Detroit border is about 480 miles.

We are planning to on this Saturday- Oct 3. I understand that they are open 24 hours.

We really want to get this sorted soon. Any comment or advise is appreciated.

Regards,
Mona

25

Hi @monaj

This post above can help you:

26

Is this for an expiring I-94 due to an expiring passport or some human error on the I-94 ?

I called the CBP at the airport close to me, the officer clearly said, they would only do the i-94 correction due to human errors, not update the I-94 due to an expiring passport.

Please let us know if it is otherwise.

27

Hi everyone, first of all, would like to thank you all for putting together all these resources.

Question: How do I get the list of CBP offices in US-Canada border? Specifically, I’m in Washington state and would like to know the possibility of visiting a CBP office to extend my I94 due to passport renewal.

Thanks

28

Search on CBP website.

29

Hi vinoda. My i797 for L1a is valid till September 2022. My visa stamped on passport is valid September 2022. Passport is expiring 5th July 2021 and i94 expires 5th July as well. Can I go to Windsor tunnel Canada border without canada visa and extend i94 ?

30

@anil_am22 My I-94 expired on march 2020(visa expired on same date). I have renewed my passport in july 2020. I have valid I797 until 2021 june. Could you please help me on how to fix my i-94 to file for my H1-B extension. Please help.
I have reached out to my nearest CBP office in north carolina but they said they cannot update my i-94 and asked me to return to US to get it updated. I am not sure if I should do it because I may be banned . Any help here is appreciated.

31

Hi @sm244kibm

There is no need to fear if the overstay is only due to passport expiry.

Talk to your employer and they can file an H1B extension with NPT to request i94 from back date.

You should take action as early as possible as the more days to spend without a new i94, the bad it is.

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32

Hi All,

If you guys can help with my query that would be great. My Wife’s(H4) I-94 is expiring soon and I-94 date is based on her old passport and I have renewed her passport and now I need to extend her I-94, my plan is to take her to US-Mexico border by car and get extended. My question is what are the documents that are needed and she doesn’t have I-797 as she got visa stamped at US embassy in India when she was there last yer.Her visa validity is there until DEC 2022. so is it ok to go over there without I-797 ?

Thanks in advance!

33

I guess you must need I-797 along with valid visa stamp. Because they verify both at the same time. You can call boarder immigration team verify before visit them. Take care.

Shreeram

34

Update: Today we went to Douglas,AZ CBP office and got extended my wife’s I-94 without any issues, we need to cross the boarder and come back to USA and the whole process was done in 1 hr and the officers were really really nice and helpful and they literally guided me with each and every step including showing and escorting to Mexico boarder and then the same officer waited and received us and finished whole process.

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35

@anil_am22 - Glad I stumbled upon this forum. Can you please guide me as I am in a worst situation. I am currently on H1B (I797 is valid till Jan 2022). However my I94 got expired back in march 2021 because my passport had the same expiration date. Now per my employer’s immigration lawyer, I am out of status and about to complete 180 days of unlawful stay (precisely on Sep 24th). They just sent out the petition (under premium processing) to adjust my I94 dates but I don’t know if I will get an answer by Sep 24th. If I don’t get anything by Sep24th, I have to leave the country. If I don’t then I will be barred to enter US for next three years. This will jeopardize my green card application as well. Per your directions, I can certainly visit Mexico border to get new I94 but can you address the following:

  1. I am planning to make a visit to Laredo CBP office to get new i94. Do I need to leave US and re-enter? What if they deny to admit me because of my expired I-94. In such a situation, I will be stuck in Mexico

  2. I’m a Canadian PR card holder as well. Would be better to visit CBP office in Buffalo rather than visiting Laredo?

36

Usually CBP team allow you to re enter basically leaving the country and entering again. We did same Windsor tunnel CBP office Michigan. You can call them before visit to make sure will they do it. All the best. Take care.

Regards
Shreeram

1 Like
37

Hi,

Thanks for sharing the details. I am
In the similar situation. If I extend my passport and travel back to India during the port of entry they will provide the I94 extension?

38

Hi,

has any one done I-94 update without crossing the border recently. I heard Otey mesa US Mexico border was doing it through permit rooms but not sure at the moment. Any inputs to update I-94 without crossing the border would help as i have a advance parole application pending

39

As soon as CBP (border control) issues a new i94, the chances are high that your pending i131 will be denied.

The reason is that CBP issued i94 is considered an exit and entry.

40

Thanks Anil for the response. Wanted to understand if there is still a process available to update I-94 without traveling/crossing the border ? The reason I am asking this is that - this is for my kid. If there is a process to update within usa , we can avoid I131 drop for one of the parents at least is what is thought.

41

You can file extension directly with USCIS using form i539.

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