Canadian Landed Immigrant without I94 to AOS

M

mole4ever

Registered Users (C)
Hello all, I am a Canadian Landed Immigrant without I94 who crossed the Blaine, WA by driving with my Uncle. This was 1999 and I have a B1/B2 visa at that time (which expires apr 2009). My uncle got questioned by the border agent and that he mentioned that I will be dropped off at the greyhound bus station in Blaine going to LA. We also informed him that I am a Landed immigrant and showed my US Visa as well. The border just waved and let us through. No i94 was given. (Philippine Passport - not a VWP country). I have stayed in the US since then and have worked from 2000 til today non stop. I have just recently married a USC on Jan 2008 and we are now discussing if I should ever file an AOS. What my greatest concern is filing AOS and not having an I94. I understand that Canadian citizens can adjust their status even without I94 but I am not sure with canadian landed immigrants. I have tried to find answers about this but I just couldnt find it. I hope somebody can shed light about this and would appreciate greatly your input.

Thank you :confused:
 
Your Canadian PR status probably expired a long time ago. Out of every 5 years you have to be physically present in Canada for 3 years to maintain your status.
You entered U.S. legally but you have no proof. Do you at least have a stamp in your passport from the border crossing in 1999?
 
Yup unfortunately my PR in Canada is expired already. No stamp from US border at all. Had i known i would have asked border to give me an I94 but he was busy doing something on his desk and didnt even check our Van. Am i considered an EWI if i dont have proof of stamp or I94? It has been a stressful month for me and my wife if I should file or not. :( thanks mermaid06 for your input
 
Consider hiring an experienced attorney. You do need to adjust your status at some point...Good luck!
mole4ever said:
Yup unfortunately my PR in Canada is expired already. No stamp from US border at all. Had i known i would have asked border to give me an I94 but he was busy doing something on his desk and didnt even check our Van. Am i considered an EWI if i dont have proof of stamp or I94? It has been a stressful month for me and my wife if I should file or not. :( thanks mermaid06 for your input
Click to expand...
 
thanks triplecitizen. yup philippines is not a british commonwealth that is why i applied for a b1/b2 visa before i crossed. the problem was the border agent never gave me an i94...it was too informal as if he didnt have time for us. never even stood up from his chair. it was my first time crossing a land border too coz i usually just fly in but decided a scenic route thru amtrak. had i known they give out i94, i wouldve walked in the office and asked for one...so now im iffy if i should aos. do you think it will be ok? experts help :confused:
 
just a question too, if i enter by canada by car since i have a lot of family too in vancouver, will my record of landing imm1000 suffice?
 
oh nope...not leaving definitely. I just wanted to know if i could if i dont get approved. just in case. but good lookin out..thanks.
 
"Even with the old rules, you should not have been allowed in without an I-94 since the Phillipines was not part of the British Commonwealth. Regardless, you were inspected and allowed in. Thus you should be able to AOS."

Triple Citizen - What has "being part of British Commonwealth" got to do with I-94s? If that were the case, countries like India and a whole lot of countries in Africa would qualify for non I-94 entries... Could you please explain. This for my own knowledge. Thanks.
 
Triple Citizen said:
Pre-911, commonwealth citizens who held PR status in Canada did not need a visa to visit the US. Thus they entered without an I-94 being issued to them.
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but wasn't the visa waiver separate from the I-94 waiver?

Commonwealth PRs would get the visa waiver, whereas only Canadian citizens would be exempt from the I-94. The two are separate - I have been visa-exempt for all my non-immigrant statuses, but I still needed an I-94 for anything other than B.
 
Pre-911 commonwealth citizens with PR in Canada could visit the US without a visa and if the purpose was business or tourism, no I-94 was needed.
For F-1, H-1B, etc, a visa was again not needed but an I-94 was issued at the POE. Basically the same rules that would apply for a Canadian citizen. A visa was surely needed for K and E visas.


TheRealCanadian said:
I could be wrong, but wasn't the visa waiver separate from the I-94 waiver?

Commonwealth PRs would get the visa waiver, whereas only Canadian citizens would be exempt from the I-94. The two are separate - I have been visa-exempt for all my non-immigrant statuses, but I still needed an I-94 for anything other than B.
Click to expand...
 
Triple Citizen said:
Pre-911 commonwealth citizens with PR in Canada could visit the US without a visa and if the purpose was business or tourism, no I-94 was needed.
For F-1, H-1B, etc, a visa was again not needed but an I-94 was issued at the POE. Basically the same rules that would apply for a Canadian citizen. A visa was surely needed for K and E visas.
Click to expand...

Ah - thanks for the explanation!
 
hello, so in my case, is it debatable that i am not ewi since i have a visa, officer waved and let thru even if he saw my B1/B2 visa?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top