I94 extension at San DIego Ysidro 2018-2019 Archive

41

Hi all,

I went to San Ysidro few days ago on 11/29 Thursday evening for I-94 renewal as my current one is expiring in mid January.
Sharing my experience here as it can be helpful for others.

  1. Drove from SF Bay area and reached San Ysidro around 5pm. Parked my car at the paid parking lot on 4570 Camino De La Plaza and walked to PedWest 499 Virgina Ave.
  2. Went into the building through the door on the left (as shown in the photo at the top of this page).
  3. It was almost empty, only 2-3 people were waiting. Had already paid the i94 fee online. Showed the printed receipt to the guy behind the counter on the right corner of the room
  4. Then waited for a CBP officer to call me. Told him that i needed to renew i94 and gave him old and new passports.
  5. Officer checked both my passports along with all visas in old passport, asked me couple of simple questions and asked for an Identity proof for which i gave my DL.
  6. Did not ask me for any other documents, did not ask whether i crossed the border and did not even ask me to cross the border. Directly issued a new i94 till end of my visa date.
  7. I was out of the building in barely 5 mins. Checked online after around 30 mins and it was updated with the new i94 number and expiry date.

When i started, I was a bit worried because of the clashes at the San Ysidro port of entry just 4-5 days ago and whether it will cause any delays or difficulties in the renewal process.
But the whole thing got over in 5 mins and I did not even have to cross the border. This could not have been anymore simpler.
Even if i was asked to cross the border, looking at the situation there, i would not have hesitated as everything looked pretty routine and normal.
Going on a weekday evening might have helped me, not sure about the crowds on weekends.

Thanks @Anil_Gupta for the detailed instructions which are really helpful for folks like me trying to renew the i94.

Mahesh

42

@kmahesh Good to know that you got a new i94 without any hassle. Mine is expiring in March 19 and I was wondering if I can get it extended 3-4 months before expiry or I should wait for couple of more months.

Do you have any recommendations @Anil_Gupta/@kmahesh?

43

@ashwinj
If you have already got the passport renewed, you can go anytime to get your i94 renewed.

44

Thanks for replying. I will post an update here once I am done with the process.

45

@ashwinj
I think you can get it extended anytime. I cant think of any reason why they would ask you to wait for some more time.

I suggest you make the trip whenever it is convenient for you and get it renewed.

46

I am planning to go to San Diego in next 2/3 weeks. If anyone wants to join let me know

47

I’m planning to next week, Please let me know when are you going

48

where is the mexico border crossing from the Pedwest bldg. It would be great if you can point it in the map, will be very helpful

49

Hi @Raghavendra_Rao
The exact pedwest address and map have been shared in first post above.

And in this post too by @vinodnama:
https://www.truvisa.com/t/i94-extension-at-san-diego-ysidro-us-mexico-border-old-passport-expired-renewed-passport/361/103?u=anil_gupta

50

Hi Raghvendra,

Please email me awspqrsumit@gmail.com

@Anil gupta - Is it risky to visit SanDiego/Laredo border during this time? Does Govt Shutdown impact services @CBP/I94 Extension/correction office?

51

CBP is funded by federal government but it comes under essential services.
So, CBP at border patrol would be open.

But, you will not be able make payment online for i94 as CBP website would be down.

52

I got the I94 extension done for my daughter on Jan 4th at San Ysidro Port of Entry. CBP is open even though govt is partially shutdown
I would like to share my experience

Parked my car in front of shops which is next to the paid parking lot 4570 Camino De La Plaza San Diego, CA 92173

Walked to Pedwest San Ysidro at 499 Virgina Ave, San Diego CA 92173

There was a a queue to get into the office. Waited in the queue for 10 mins after which I was let into the office

Inside there was another queue to pay the 6$ fee for I94, You can also pay it online

Paying online is preferable because at the counter they do not accept Credit/Debit cards and you have to give exact cash of 6$ . You need to pay only for the person whose I94 is expiring

For ex : In a family of 4, if one person’s I94 is expiring but all 4 cross the border & come back you still need to pay only 6$ for one new I94

There were about 10 - 15 people & the started calling one by one . It took another 10 mins for my turn.

I explained to the CBP officer that my daughter’s I94 is expiring and I need a new one

He asked me if I had crossed the border. I said No. He asked me to cross the border & come back.

There is a small walkway next to the CBP office which leads to Mexico with a board written 'To Mexico’.

Walking through that will lead to a gate & further to Mexican immigration. We need to fill a form similar to the one at airport with details & purpose of the visit

The Mexican immigration officer was very courteous, checked our passports & US visas and asked our purpose of visit & stamped permit to stay in Mexico for 2 months . Walking further will lead to an X ray bag checking & then stairs to a bridge that goes between Mexico & US . We need to walk further & get down on the Mexico side. At this point we are really in Tijuana, Mexico, we can see shops, people, vehicles traffic etc. we walked back to another entrance of the bridge that goes to USA. There were army officials who checked our visa’s & let us further to cross the bridge leading to immigration.

The immigration officer asked a lot of questions on where I work, address in US, where does my daughter study. Why we went to Mexico etc & also checked all our documents. She said we had come very early as my daughter’s I94 was valid till May , We had gone in Jan. I said that we didn’t want to wait till last min & school had holidays now and wanted to finish this. She was not convinced & said they do not give an new I94 so early & will live it to CBP officer to decide. She walked us to CBP office & told the officer that we have come too early but the officer said its fine & can give new I94 till visa expiry. The CBP officer was friendly & gave us the new I94 & also asked what plans we have in San Diego & when are we returning to home. At last we walked back with the new I94. The whole process took about 2.5 hrs

If you have any questions please feel free to ask me. I will be happy to help with any information that I know

53

Thank you @Anil_Gupta for creating this page, It was super helpful.

Parked car at shopping mall parking lot.
Walked to west side gate.
Waited for 15 mins in a line.
Officer at the gate asked if we ( a couple of more Indians in the line ) have been to Mexico, and asked us to cross the border and come back.
There is a small gate which says “To Mexico”, walk in, walk for 10 mins …there will be Mexico immigration just fill a form, they are fast, they asked how many days, I said I am just going back to the USA, she gave me 3 days visa.
once you are out, you will see stairs to the bridge, there were at least 200-300 people ( mostly Mexicans ) ahead of us in the line … probably because we went there on Saturday. it was fast though, took us 40-45 mins to reach immigration officer.
He asked a few questions, why here? why not Canada? did you change the job? just explained him the situation and he was fine.
went back to the same line we were at the start.
Again waited for 15-20 mins … I had already paid $6 online.
She just asked for documents, petition, passports, address proof. No questions asked.
that was it.
Overall it took 2-3 hours to complete the whole process.

54

Friends ,

Myself with 4 other friends visited San Ysidro US mexico Border on Saturday and here the details

  • Parked Car at 4570 Camino De La Plaza San Diego, CA 92173 - 18$ per day
  • Waited for almost 20 minutes in I-94 Permit line
  • Officer inside the room asked us to cross the border if you had not done.
  • Came out iof the building and walked at the right side " To Mexico " , passed gate , and walked straight to another building where Mexico Officer were seated in entrance.
  • Filled the visitor visa form , then Mexico Officer Validated US visa , they asked how many days you gonna stay - I replied I am just here to update I 94 and will be reentering USA, Mexican officer stamped on my new passport.
  • Scanned the bag and walked on the bridge
  • Exited the bridge and walk towards the US side
  • US Officer in gate verified the Passport and Visa
  • POE officer was not aware of the I-94 update process - next officer in next counter explained that this is very common and its due to the old passport
  • Then Officer at my counter escorted to the room where I94 updated process happens
  • Given the Passport to the officer and waited
  • Officer call all H1B ppl to come - all 4 of stood in the counter.
  • Officer asked individually did you changed your employer ?
  • Provided the documents - I797 , online payment sheet , employment related document
  • Officer in specific asked if you have document describing the work location or work address
  • One of the person who accompanied me was searching for LCA and in some time officer asked can you write the address in piece of paper
  • Officer updated the I94 and returned the passport
  • Officer also updated its govt shutdown and not sure how much time it takes to update the central database. however paper I94 is valid and you can check online after 3 weeks.
  • Came out of the building and found my I94 is updated online

Since its Saturday there were almost 200 - 300 ppl crossing border and overall it tool 90 minutes to complete.

55

Followed the steps in the blog and got my I94 extended on 23-Jan-2019. I was asked to cross the Mexico border and return back to the USA and extended my I94 with no hassle - Entire procedure took <40 mins. Thank you so much for sharing the information guys!

56

Thanks @Balaji_Prasad for sharing your experience.
So, you crossed into Canadian Border? Can you share more details like:

  1. Which US Canada border did you go to?
  2. Do you need Canadian Visa to Cross border to Canada?
57

Really sorry - I meant to write “Mexico” but I accidentally wrote “Canada”

58

Thanks @Balaji_Prasad for confirming.

59

I got my i94 renewed today at San Yasidro office following the exact steps mentioned in this article. I got myself a cup of coffee at outlet mall so that I could park there. Then crossed the street and waited for 10 mins for my turn at West pedestrian facility in “online payment” queue.

They let me in and went directly to a window where officer just asked me where do I stay. He checked my driving license for address and asked me for my Visa. My Visa was on my old passport. I told him that I renewed my passport recently and hence it is blank and I need a new i94. He printed the i94 on a small paper and then stamped my new passport. Done.

Overall process inside took 5 minutes plus 10 minutes wait outside which wasn’t much considering it was a Saturday.

Thanks a lot @Anil_Gupta for a precise steps. Made the process much easier!

60

Thanks @Anil Gupta.
I was able to extend my i94 at Sandiego using the above process. Thanks for the help.