Hi
You have all been real helpful in the past, so lets see if you can do it again!
I am on L2 with my wife on L2 spouse.
My passport expires may this year (visa expires end 2005), and when we re-entered recently they only put the I-94 date till my passport expires.
I can get a new passport in Washington in a few days, and then we need to exit and re-enter the us to get a new I-94.
If we fly to Canada, from Dallas where we are, will they take our current I-94, thus enabling a new one when we return???? Or do they not do this in canada?
Filing is a hassle and a nice weekend away is definatley preferable to dealing with BCIS (or DHS or whatever) paperwork!!!
Anyone actually done this??
Thanks in advance
Cressers
Hi!
Why did they put a "leave by" date on your I-94???? I thought you only had to put the actual date when you entered the US as how do you know when you'll be leaving the US again????
When we went to Canada to renew our Visas the Customs people didn't remove our I-94's on leaving the States OR give us new ones to fill in on our return. Don't know if this is right though.
Debs x )
I think the INS guy should have put your leave-by date as the expiry date of your visa, but he probably saw your passport was expiring and assumed you would have to leave to get a new one.
They rarely, if ever, take your I-94 when you enter Canada from the US.
I think you can get a replacement I-94 without having to leave the country by applying to the INS (there may be information about this on their website). Otherwise, I don't see why the INS official at Dallas airport would object to you filling out a new form, if you asked nicely wink (Its probably best to check this out before you actually go to Canada though!)
By the way, wouldn't Mexico be closer to you in Dallas, or do you want to feel the icy blast of winter for a few days?!
I am getting conflicting things here....a finnish guy I work with had his taken when he flew to vancouver last month.......from dallas, he is on the same visa.
I choose Canada becasue I was told they don't take your I-94 if you fly to Mexico.........
I just spoke with my immigration lawyers, for free, which was nice.
Anyway, they say you can either
> ask the airline to take your I-94, which they should do, maybe say something like, "we are going for the weekend, but may decide to stay longer, so its best if you take the I-94 just in case"
if they don't
> fill in another I-94 when returning to the US and explain the situation to the immigration people. You will need all the visa paperwork with you, but they should be OK and issue an I-94 with a new date.
This applies to a blanket petition only.
Went to Canada for the day a few years back (when I was a tourist and not a permanent resident) and they didn't take my I-94 off me.
I did have a few issues coming back in though - INS agents in Canada who didn't seem to grasp that I'd flown in to San Francisco a week earlier and just gone to Canada for the day.