Forgot to Surrender I-94 while leaving (on H4)

B

bju

Registered Users (C)
Hi All,

My wife forgot to surrender I-94 while leaving USA to travel to India. The airline staff also did not ask for it. She is on H4 and is valid until March 2004. Will there be any problems at the port of entry while re-entering USA?.

Her GC is in 485 stage. Could this cause any problems for the GC approval?. Any experiences?.

Thanks
bju
 
I don't know whether it causes any problems in 485 processing...but it won't certainly cause any problems while returning to US.

I went to India about two years ago with my family. The same thing happened with us. Neither the airlines staff asked for the I-94 nor we remebered to surrender it at the time of departure. But we didn't have any problems getting back into US.
 
Thanks gc_howlong for the reply. I have a related question.

Did you surrender the I-94 while re-entering USA? Or you didn't give it to immigration authority at all?

Thanks
Biju
 
I have a related question. Two years back when i traveled i gave the expired i-94 rather than the new i-94.I have never been out of status.I got my gc two months back.I'm planning to travel to india and i want to know if the old mistake will create any problem while entering usa.
 
I am in a similar situation

My wife has gone to India and will return in July. We did not attach the new i-94s that are part of the h4 approval to her passport. The Airlines did not remove the old i-94 either. She will be returning on AP. Do I need to contact BCIS before she comes back.
 
bju,

The I-94s were with us until we went to India again last month. We had two I-94s stapled in our passports. The airlines clerk collected both the I-94s at the time of issuing the boarding pass. I came back after three weeks on my AP. I didn't have any problems at the prot of entry. My wife and kids are still in India and will be coming back next month.

It looks like the rules are changed now. You can tell your wife to surrender the I-94 while coming back at the prot of entry. Atleast that way it will be treated as a mistake and not as a negligent atc.
 
If My Post is irrelevant please ignore it. But when I went to canada for H-1 Stamping. I drove and they did not take my I-94. And when I entered the US they took the old one and gave me a new i-94.
 
GC_Howlong

I think your suggestion is good. It is better to return the I-94 while coming back rather than keeping it.

Thanks Again
bju
 
bju,

I can share two different experiences with you.

1. I was flying to London via Toronto. The airlines guys never took my I-94 and when I tried to submit it to the Canadian authorities (per I-94 instructions) they didn't want to take it either. So I had no choice but keep it. On my return trip the US immigration guy in Toronto told me I could keep the old I-94 since it was valid.

2. My wife and I were flying to Jamaica via Memphis and we plain forgot to submit the I-94 on our way out. Airlines never asked. Same story at US immigration on our return. They said we could keep our valid un-expired I-94s and stamped our passport with "re-admit".

Both times I was totally honest and explained what had happened and had no problems. Don't think it'll be an issue for you, just tell them the truth and give them the old I-94 and let them decide. It's their job anyway!

And yes, on the second time we were at the I-485 pending stage. Actually, we still are. RD Sep 01 with 2 RFEs, responded to the last one on Mar 27.
 
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