Help me in understading this...

[resident1374]

This is my situation -

My I-94 (white card) has expired (April 24, 2006)

I do have a valid H1 till May 2008 (6 years). I am planning to for H1B extension in couple of months based on my I140 approval. So the extension will 3 years.

Now can I do an Automatic Revalidation (I have been reading about it a lot) by going to Mexico or Canada?
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The other question is that I have traveled to Canada in the past quite a few times by ROAD but never had to surrender my I-94. I heard that if you are in Canada for less than 30 days then you don't surrender the I-94?

Can someone help understand? Thanks!

 

[manwithnoname]

Yes with an approval notice, you can go to Canada or Mexico for visa revalidation. Please note that the new I-94 is the bottom right corner part of I-797 (approval notice). I-94 need to be surrenderred at the border to create a departure record. Your previous trips to Canada involved automatic visa revalidation because either you stayed abroad for less than 30 days and you did not took an appointment at any of the U.S. consulates located in Canada. Not sure how the I-94 surrender works on road border crossing, but at the time of re-entry you may have to ask for a new I-94. Someone with an experience can clarify this further.