Passport Dilemma

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Yooklid

Registered Users (C)
Not sure if this is the right forum, but the most knowledgeable people seem to hang out here.

My H1 expires in November, but my passport expires in Feburary. I've applied for a new one which means surrendering the old one to the consulate (i've held onto the I-94). Now technically my passport expires on Feb 9th. Last time I came into the country, the officer wrote "valid until the 9th only" on it. I may not get my new passport before the 9th. If I get it before the 9th, I'll be down to my local USCIS office to sort it out, but if I don't, it will leave me in a very precarious situation. Anyone know what the ramifications of this situation are?

ie - in the US, NO passport (with one on the way), and my I-94 with a note on it saying "only valid until 9th" though my visa expires in November.
 
February 9 seems a month away; why can't you obtain a new passport by then? Most of the consulates issue passport within days ...
 
this happened to me 2 years ago. i had to leave the county and went back home, which was planed in front any way. i got a new passport and use my h-1b back. this time they stamp i-94 as my h-1b
 
Yooklid,

IO's at POE typically issue the I-94 till the validity of the visa or the passport, whichever is earlier. Thats why although your H-1 is valid till November, your I-94 is valid only till the passport validity date.

I assume you are from India - if so, please go in person to the consulate rightaway and get the new passport - they usually issue the new passport the very next day after you submit your application. Although you have to submit the old one when applying for the new, the consulate will return the old one with the note "Old/expired passport cancelled, any valid visas within are not cancelled".

Now take your new blank passport and your old one cancelled one (containing the still valid H-1) and depending on your location, cross over by land into either Mexico or Canada for a few hours. On your return, present both passports and the IO at the border crossing will now issue a new I-94 valid till the visa validity period.

Hope this helps ....

Cheers !!
 
Actually, I'm Irish. I don't think the Irish consulates here have the passport processing capabilities that the Indian ones do. I'll have to sit it out, as I sent it off last Friday. I'll keep you all posted.
 
Gee!See? said:
IO's at POE typically issue the I-94 till the validity of the visa or the passport, whichever is earlier.
Click to expand...
Is that what they do now? When I entered the country with my first H1, the I-94 was for the full 3 years even though my passport expired in less than a year. When I traveled after getting the new passport, I carried both the old passport (which had the visa) and the new passport.
 
Jackolantern said:
Is that what they do now? When I entered the country with my first H1, the I-94 was for the full 3 years even though my passport expired in less than a year. When I traveled after getting the new passport, I carried both the old passport (which had the visa) and the new passport.
Click to expand...

Same with me - my second H-1 was within 15 months of passport expiry, but the I-94 was for the full H-1 term ..... but all friends/colleagues who travelled in the past couple of years received an I-94 to match the earliest of their visa/passport expiry date. All of them then had to visit Mexico/Canada to get a new I-94 after getting their new passport.

Of course, this could be a coincidence .... or yet another fallout of 9/11.

Cheers !!
 
When I entered Aug-2006, whole family got I-94 aligned to our VISA dates which is earlier than our passport expiry/H1B.

Interestingly, at the POE, the officer is stamping I-94 with the previous date. when my wife pointed that out, he screamed and said "whole day I am doing this" and corrected the date. Pity on those who came earlier to us. Later when I saw he is not giving the date as to my H1 and pointed him. He is already very angry and bluntly said "NO".

I extended H1-B again. So, just before travel I have 2-1/2 years on my I-94, and the vacation travel reset that to 6 months. Lawyers got good money as we extended our H1B, USCIS got their share too. Company lost the money as well as good time of mine too!!!
 
For I-94 extension, you don't need to go out of USA, you need to go to local USCIS office with the new passport and they will provide you a new I-94 with appropriate dating...
 
I just reentered US and my kid's passport expires before the visa expiry date, so the officer told me that I need to go to the local USCIS office after getting new passport and they will issue the new I-94.

Now, I do realize that the officer may have wrong information, but he seemed quite confident in his statement...
 
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