USCIS I129 for First Time TN Applicant

nelsona said:
Sure. I used to staple the information portion into my last page of the passport. They will probably issue you a new I-94 based on that.
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Just want to post this update:

We went to US Consulate, Ottawa and got my wife's TD visa stamped in her passport. Very straight forward, took just 2 days to get the stamping done.

Before travelling back to US, detached the new I-94s that came with the 797 A approval notice (bottom portion) and stapled it to the old I-94 (valid until Jan 30th 2018) that is there in the passport.

On Jan 27th, crossed the border at Ambassador bridge, officer just asked one question, How long you are going stay in the US during this trip? I replied, I got my TN status extension until Jan 2021. He gave the passports back and said have a great day! that's it.

@ nelson - Now I have my old and new I-94s in the passports, if I am guessing it correct, when I cross the border in future, I should simply remove the old I-94 and keep only the new I-94 that came with the approval notice? Appreciate if you could share your thoughts. Thanks.
 
You should only have one I-94 in your passport: the last one issued. Any others should simply be kept in your immigration paperwork file. You should have removed the old one the day you got your last I-94.
 
nelsona said:
You should only have one I-94 in your passport: the last one issued. Any others should simply be kept in your immigration paperwork file. You should have removed the old one the day you got your last I-94.
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Thanks nelson. I did not remove the old one as it was still valid when I reentered US (3 more days left). Now, I will remove the old I94 and place only the new ones in the passports. I will keep the old I94s in my file and I believe there is no need to hand it over back to CBP as we are continuing in the status with the new I94s.
 
nelsona said:
Your new I-94 was valid at the time you entered.
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Thanks Nelson. The reason I stapled it to the old one is, there is a note on the 797 A approval notice, "please detach the I-94 portion below and attach it to the old I94 if available. So, I did that. The officer did look at the both the I94s and returned the passports. As you suggested, now, I will remove the old ones and only keep the new ones in the passports.

In future, when I cross the border again, the officer can only see the new I94 which is valid until Jan 2021.
 
nelsona said:
+1. I guess they changed the process slightly.
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Thanks nelson. You are right, the process might have changed bit. Since the old I94 was still valid, they didn't issue a new one, simply let me in. When I cross next time, they might issue a new I94 with a new validity period on it.

I cross checked with our employer's immigration desk, they confirmed that, when I cross next time, just carry the approval notices, the border officer will issue a new I94 with validity periods indicated on the approval notices.
 
Why? Wasn't the validity period on your new I-94 current when you crossed? Or did it have only the new extension dates? Or nothing (I've heard some I-94s aren't having the dates printed these days)?

Either way, there is no need to carry any I-797 documents with you. They can look any up if they want.
 
My experience post electronic I-94 has been this (multiple times, including an H1-B to TN conversion): I went to PFI USCBP with the approval notice in my hand and no old paper I-94 (because it was electronic) and even though the approval notice had an I-94, the officer stapled only the lower portion of the approval notice without the I-94 to my passport, took the I-94 away from the approval notice and then instructed me to download the electronic one from their website.

Pre electronic I-94 era: the officer always took the old I-94 away from me, then, either stapled the I-94 from the approval notice, or issued a brand new paper I-94.
 
nelsona said:
Why? Wasn't the validity period on your new I-94 current when you crossed? Or did it have only the new extension dates? Or nothing (I've heard some I-94s aren't having the dates printed these days)?

Either way, there is no need to carry any I-797 documents with you. They can look any up if they want.
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The new I94s that I got as part of 797 approval notices has new validity (Jan 21, 2018 to Jan 29, 2021). So, he just used the old I94s (valid until Jan 30) to let me in but he looked at the new I94s as well which are stapled with the old ones.
 
OttawaSenators said:
My experience post electronic I-94 has been this (multiple times, including an H1-B to TN conversion): I went to PFI USCBP with the approval notice in my hand and no old paper I-94 (because it was electronic) and even though the approval notice had an I-94, the officer stapled only the lower portion of the approval notice without the I-94 to my passport, took the I-94 away from the approval notice and then instructed me to download the electronic one from their website.

Pre electronic I-94 era: the officer always took the old I-94 away from me, then, either stapled the I-94 from the approval notice, or issued a brand new paper I-94.
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The I94s issued by USICS as part of 797A approval notices are not traceable in cbp I94 retrieval website. Its clearly written that status extensions/benefits received from USICS will not reflect in cbp i94 status / travel history website.

I am not sure how we can download the electronic I94s for the ones that are issued by USICS (797A approval notice)
 
Of course USCIS issued I-94's don't show up on USCBP's website. Since the CBP officer did not bother issuing an I-94 for you, you pretty much own a paper I-94 from USCIS. Why would you need an electronic one if you have a paper one?
It seems like airport CBP are more strict because they always issued me an electronic one to replace USCIS's I-94. This way they keep track of your entries as well.
 
OttawaSenators said:
Of course USCIS issued I-94's don't show up on USCBP's website. Since the CBP officer did not bother issuing an I-94 for you, you pretty much own a paper I-94 from USCIS. Why would you need an electronic one if you have a paper one?
It seems like airport CBP are more strict because they always issued me an electronic one to replace USCIS's I-94. This way they keep track of your entries as well.
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I crossed the border last Friday, asked the CBP officer to issue a I94 with new validity dates. Officer scanned the passports and gave it back, he said, there is no need for new I94 as the new validity dates are already in there, you are good to go he said.

Looks like the system already has the new validity dates - what I have in the passport right now is the new I94 issued from USICS and the left portion of the approval notice which shows the new validity dates, that's all.

I came home and checked the cbp website, it shows just the old I94 information only (the I94 that is issued at border by CBP), nothing mention of new I94 info. there. But when I checked the travel history, it showed that we crossed the border on Friday.
 
There is a great difference between CBP accessing the USCIS database (which OF COURSE they can do) and you accessing the I-94 public database.
 
nelsona said:
You should only have one I-94 in your passport: the last one issued. Any others should simply be kept in your immigration paperwork file. You should have removed the old one the day you got your last I-94.
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Nelsona, could you tell me how to post a new thread on this forum? I just cannot figure it out. Thanks.
 
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