I-94 Issue

J

jan_chinnu

Registered Users (C)
I am in Just confussion regarding I-94 status...
when I first time enterd in US.. on H1-B visa.. after a month I changed my Employer..and working with new employer..I havent Stamped New visa on passport..
in these days.. I visited India and comaback after 1 month to US. On that time I have Visa on my Old Employer.. and I also Have New H1( which is current Employer).. POE officer gave me I-94 based on Old Visa. which expired on Oct 2002. and on my New H1 it shows I-94 till Nov'2003.
Mean time I get stamped visa on my passport in may 2003.
Now the issue : is my I-94 Valid which is on New H1..
advise me.. (Nov'2003).. or they count old I-94 (Oct 2002)..?

If I need to contact Port of Entry Office in Ohio.. Plese let me know address so that I can directly visit their office regarding this issue..
Is there anybody solved this issue already.. please email me procedure.. how to approch..

Thank You
 
Visa is required when you enter the US and I-94 is the actual thing that determines your stay here.
If your I-94 is valid for the new H1 (till NOv 2003) and you have the approval notice for the new H1 then this would take precedence and not the old I-94. At this time you should be okay, but you should apply for H1 extension thru your new employer as this also takes a few months.

Thanks
 
I heard abt my I-94 which they gave me on POE is only valid.. evethogh I have new H1 on my hand On that time...(when they gave me I-94 ) ..
anybody resolved this issue...?
 
The last issued I-94 prevails, regardless of the date on it. If at POE you were issued an I-94 that expires BEFORE your H1 approval, that POE issued I-94 date governs your authorized period of stay. If you subsequently apply for and get H1 extension, the I-94 attached to the extension notice governs your stay.
 
I 94 issue

Hi..

Your last I94 controls the period of legal stay. It looks from your post that your current (latest) I94 is the one which was issued at the POE based on your previous employment. Unfortunately it seems this I94 expired in Oct 02. If the "new" H1 you are alluding to is not issued after your last entry, it does not help you. It looks like you are accumulating "out of status" and "unauthorized" work in the US. In your case your legal stay ended by Oct 02 and you crossed the six months period after which you are subject to a mandatory 3 year ban on reentry (or when you go to a cousulate). If you go past 1 year of illegal stay the ban period goes upto 10 years.

The fact that you got your visa renewed (I assume you did it through DOS in washington) does not have any bearing on your period of legal stay. On the other hand if you got it done through a consulate outside the US, you should have gotten a new I94 on your way back. If this I94 is valid then you are safe.

I understand this is clearly an error from the INS officers part. There is an INS memo which asks officers to look for the latest H1 and mark the validity date of I94 accordingly. Unfortunately, INS thinks (rightfully I must say) that it is your responsibility to check for errors at the POE and they do not entertain arguments based on who was responsible !

There are a lot of people who were affected in this manner and you are not alone.

I am not sure how this can be corrected at this stage since you already seem to cross the six months milestone. If it was before Oct 02, you could go to the INS office which has jurisdiction over the POE (not your place of stay) and got it corrected. In some cases even the officers at POE are known to correct it. Even after Oct 02 you could have corrected it by going out of US and applying for a new visa AT A CONSULATE. Upon reentry you could have gotten a new I 94 based on your new visa which in turn is based on your new H1 thereby "restting" the problem. But now since you crossed the six month period, the consulate might ban you from applying for ANY kind of visa for 3 years.

The question whether they will find out about your illegal stay is a totally different one. They may not even come to know about it though it is theoretical possibility. I think it is risky and only you can decide whether you can tolerate that much risk.

You may be in a serious situation and YOU NEED TO TALK TO A COMPETANT IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY urgently.

Talk to your attorney BEFORE you plan to go to POE or contact INS since you dont want to wake a sleeping dog under this circumstances.

This is just my openion, and I am strictly a lay person when it comes legal matters, but have seen people suffering due to I94 problems.

Good Luck !
 
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Just go to Local BCIS office, tell them whole issue that you surrendered your I-94 at the gate. They may rectify it.

If they are not rectifying go to Canada or Mexico while coming back they will issue new I-94.

You have to tell them that it is the mistake of the officer at Port of entry and you did not notice it.

Hopefully it will work. I have seen similar case on this forum recently (in last two three days)
 
Thank you DMN1 and tammy2..
I didnt even know abt that 3 years ban and 10 years ban..
I am browsing net I got information that they can rectify this issue applying form I-102
http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/files/i-102.pdf
I am not how its work out.. I contacted attorney.. he said same as you said (DMN1)..
What I am thinking is If my I-94 already expired after that only I applied for my New H1-B Visa - may '2003 ( sent to St. Louis).. and I got Visa too.. If I am Staying illegal after Oct '2002..then Why they issued Visa..
I dont know how it will solve to me..
 
jan_chinnu

As per my understanding

1. You came on H1 from company A. Until what date it was valid?
2. Then you switched to company B. You got new I-94 with H1 transfer. Correct?
What was the validity date?
3. Then you went to India you surrendered both I-94s of company A and Company B (That came with H1 transfer). Then came with old stamping. At Port of entry they issued you an I-94 based upon company A 's expiry date and that one is expired in Oct 2002. Am I right?

But your have H1 from company B which will expire in November 2003.

If this is the case then you may not face the problem. That is my opinion. Please let me know If I am right?
 
Tammy -
Here is detail
I came on Company A. (Visa on Company A, and H1) Nov 2000. Its valid Oct'2002 (both H1-b and Visa )
then I moved company B on Feb 2001. and working for Company B. I got H1 on Comany B Its valid 2003 Nov, and I have I-94 also showed on my H1 which is valid till Nov 2003
But I didnt get stamped on new H1
Mean time I visited India and come back on May '2002
On that time I have 1 Visa (comany A) and two H1's Company A nd B
I showed both H1 to POE.
POE issued I-94 based on Company A (expires on oct'2002)
after that I get stamped on my new H1 (Company B) on May 2003 at St.Louis. USA by post..
My old I-94 is valid till oct 2002 (which POE issued)
on my New H1-B valid till Nov'2003
 
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