I94 extension at San DIego Ysidro 2018-2019 Archive

61

Hi,

My sons passport and visa is expiring on Feb 26th 2019. His visa stamp, passport and I 94 all have the same expiring date as Feb 26th 2019.
However his I 797 approval copy has a date till Sep 2019. Will the I 94 be extended based on visa stamp or I 797?

Regards
Chandra

62

Hi @chandrat
I94 can be extended till i797 validity if you get it done before i94 expires or visa stamp expires.

63

Thank you for your reply. We will update you once done.

64

Hello Anil&Everyone,

I just got my I94 extended today (14th Feb, 2019) at the San Ysidro pedwest office. I followed the exact guildlines as mentioned above and the entire process was super easy.

  1. Took an Uber from the airport to 499 Virginia Avenue. The pedwest office is right opposite to the border outlet mall.
  2. There was a separate room for I94 extensions and there was an officer at the entrance who asked me to cross the border and come back.
  3. There are clear signs to enter Mexico (turnstile). Walk all the way to Mexico immigration. It was raining heavily and the immigration was deserted. Fill up the Mexican immigration form (just name date of birth and passport details).
  4. The Mexican immigration gave me a one day visa. Exit the immigration after bag check and there will be an entrance to a bridge. Get on it and follow the signs to USA.
  5. Upon entering USA, the immigration officer asked my the reason for visit and I explained him. He Walked me to the I94 office and I went to the same officer I met earlier.
  6. He asked me where I work and what I do and issued me a new stamp in my old passport. Online I94 was updated immediately. Whole process took just 45 minutes.

One question to Anil. The I94 given by the officer and the online I94 information is linked to my OLD passport. Is that ok?

Thank you Anil and others for all the help.

65

Hi @ssrigane
Don’t worry about the i94 attached to old passport. It is normal.

Thanks for sharing your experience. We appreciate it.

66

Hi Anil,

Just went to the Mexico Pedwest facility for my son’s I 94 ext due to passport expiry.The officer handed me over admit card I-94 which had the extended date, he also stamped the new passport with the extended date.

However I do not see the I-94 date updated online till now, is there a miss here. ? its been 6 hrs now.
How long would it take for the I 94 to be updated online, should I be visiting again and rechecking with the officer?

Thanks
Chandra

67

Hi @chandrat
No need to worry. You have the paper i94 and it is perfectly valid.

68

Hello Anil

I just got my I94 extended yesterday(17th Feb, 2019) at the San Ysidro pedwest office and I94 information is linked to my OLD passport.

After crossing the broder, i didn’t see any Mexican immigration office and i Just Walked Back to USA.
Is that ok?

Thank you Anil and others for all the help.

Madhu

69

Hi @madhuc

Do not worry about Mexican Immigration. If you are back in US, you are good.

70

I am back in the US.

Thanks for your help.

71

Hi @Anil_Gupta : Thank you so much for providing detailed information. It was very useful. I went to San Deigo on March 15 2019 and got the updated I-94. Thought of sharing my experience to help others who are in the same boat.

Steps :

  1. Park the car at the same location mentioned above - 4570 Camino De La Plaza San Diego, CA 92173
  2. Walk to the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry – West Pedestrian Facility - PedWest office. 499 Virgina Ave, San Diego CA 92173
  3. Stand in the queue where it says “Pre-paid I-94” (I would definitely suggest paying the fee $6 online - https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/apply-document) So that you don’t need to wait for an hour in the ordinary queue
  4. CBP officer checked my passport and told me to cross the Mexico border and come back
  5. There are clear signs to enter Mexico. Walk all the way to Mexico immigration. Fill up the Mexican immigration form (just name, date of birth and passport details).
  6. Mexican immigration gave me a one day visa. Exit the immigration after bag check and there will be an entrance to a bridge. Get on it and follow the signs to the USA, which is on the right (7 mins walk).
  7. Upon entering the USA, the immigration officer asked me the reason for the visit and I explained to him. He checked my i797 and its attached i94 (bottom), then told me that “Since my i797 i-94 is valid and I have the new passport now, I don’t need to get new i-94 today. So don’t worry about the status (old passport exp date) which is showing in i-94 website” He read/showed me this information from my i797 document.
  8. But, I’m a little confused at this point. So, I went to the old CBP officer (Step 4) and gave my passports. She checked and gave an updated I-94 paper.
  9. Within a few hours, it is updated in the i-94 official website with the latest date.

Thanks again. Step 7 above is a little different experience in my case.

All the best!

72

Hi, just wanna share my experience. First of all, thanks to this website for all the info!

Went to the San Ysidro Pedwest POE on a Sunday. It was pretty busy and the line was really long.

For some reason, I could not prepay online (old passport expired, and my new one has never been registered into their system) so I ended up queuing for payment. It probably took me 45 mins to wait in line.

When I reached an officer, I handed over my documents but the officer appeared to not know the process. This must be a rare occurrence for them as she had to consult with a more senior officer. I was asked to cross over to Mexico and then back. Had to go through Mexico immigration and back through the bridge. Probably took another 30 mins as there was a long line going back. I guess Sunday is a pretty busy time for them.

I was interviewed by another CBP officer. I explained my intention - to update my I-94 to match my I-797. He then directed me to the same CBP office where they do I-94s. I was accommodated by a different CBP officer this time, asked me questions and stuff. He finally approved and gave me a paper copy of my new I-94.

Overall, it took me 2 hours to complete the entire process. A bit longer than usual, I suppose, but I was just relieved that it was all over and I could move on!

Many thanks to this website, to Anil, and to all the comments. This was my guide going into this process. Appreciate it a lot!

73

Hi Anil,

I am also planning to visit San Diego Mexico border to extend my I-94. Currently my I-94 is valid however VISA stamp in passport is expired. If I need to cross the US-Mexico border (if officer asked to do that!!), can I do that with expired H1B visa on my passport? In that case, do I have to separately apply for Mexico VISA? Can I re-enter USA with valid I-797, valid I-94 and expired VISA?
Thanks for helping out!!

74

Hi @jr999
You are looking at Automatic revalidation process at US Mexico border as per your situation.

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Hey guys,
I really want to thank you all for all the information I got from this portal and the constant updates, i got from this portal each time anyone went for i94 extension. So in my case i had valid US visa valid till next year and an i94 expiring on the same day as my old passport.

Here is my experience :
I went for i94 extension on Friday April 12,2019. I went to the Ped West office and paid 6$ cash for the fee. There wasn’t a really long queue for that, just 2 people before me and then i waited to be called for at the counter. Once i was called at the counter, I heard him talking to another office that he never did a H1b i94 extension before. So he called another person. Then one lady officer came and she told me to go and cross the border and go to Mexico and come back. So I came out of that office and went through the open door shape area next to that office which said To Mexico and and entered Mexico immigration office These both offices are kind of interlinked at the border. Once i was at the Mexico immigration office. I filled a form for entry into Mexico and then they stamped a entry stamp on my passport and I walked out of that office.Also they check your bag through a X ray machine for security check. Immediately outside of that office there was a round stairs to go up to the first floor to a walkway. This straight walkway takes you back to the US entry port (around a 400 m walk back). On Port of entry, an officer look at my passport and the visa on it and asked me if i came for i94 extension. I replied yes and then he told me to go to Ped West office next to this building. I went back to that office and asked me for my passport, i797 and address proof. I gave my Electricity bill and driving license for address proof, although one is enough. After 5 minutes, They issued me a paper i94, stamped my passport with new i94 expiry date. I was actually surprised that they stamped it on my new passport instead of older one.

Once again thank you for the support. You can reach out to me at deerendrasrms@gmail.com if you want to know more about my experience.

76

Hi Anil,

My i94 is valid until Oct 2019(My passport expiry date) and visa until Aug 2020. I recently got my renewed passport few weeks back. Since there is a 6 months i94 valid time from today, will they extend my i94 date if I go this weekend? I saw a post here as the officer was hesitant to extend as they have few months validity of i94 and then they did. Is there a minimum time frame required before I go there? Need your inputs if I should go this weekend?

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Hi @amuthavalli_ganapath
You should be able to extend your i94 if you are asked to cross the border.

The other choice is to wait and get i94 extended in last month before expiry.

78

Thanks Anil… Im little skeptical as if I should go this weekend…I havent seen people posting on when they go for the renewal -3 months or a month before the i94 expiry. :frowning_face:. Will my case work out as others if i cross the border?

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Crossing the border is same as going out of USA by Airplane. When you enter US, you are supposed to get a new i94 anyway.

So, that should work.

80

Thanks Anil. One more question. So me and my husband are going. Should he be accompanying me to the Mexico immigration border and return back to USA? The i94 extension is only for me after passport renewal. So curious whether he needs to be there with me because he might also gets stamped in mexico immigration right? Should he come along or should he just stay in US immigration while I cross the border. I know it sounds silly but just to be prepared so that he is not in to trouble since he is in H1.