i94 Help

[ragz068]

My cousin is stuck with an i94 issue. I would really appreciate if you can you please provide your inputs:

He went to India last year for stamping (valid till 2019) with his old passport which was valid till May 2017 and while entering back, the POE officer provided the i94 stamping validity till his old passport expiry date (May 2017)

He applied for a new passport in April 2017 (renewal applied in US), and he realized today that his i94 validity was till May 2017 only which is expired about a month ago.

So, looks like he is now out of status.

1. What are his options to update his i94 validity?
2. Can he go to Mexico (Tijuana border) or Canada and re-enter via land to update his i94?

Please provide your suggestions. Thank you for your help.

[newacct]

By staying past the date on his I-94, INA 222(g) was triggered which voided the visa he used to enter the US, and forces him to apply for visas in his country of nationality for the rest of his life. So he will need to go back to his country of nationality and get a new visa before he can re-enter the US.

[ragz068]

Case Update:

My cousin went to the Otay Mesa border, met a friend who is a Mexican citizen and drove into Tijuana past the Mexico border (don't need a visa as long as you don't intend to go in more than 25 miles into Mexico), made a U-turn back towards US border after a mile and then went into the CBP office (no need of waiting in the long line for only I94 cases), stood in the line for getting the I94 updated for a couple of hours (need to pay $6 for paper I94) and was called into the office by one of the officers who asked the following:

- Why are you here?
- When did you come to Mexico?
- Which visa are you on?
- Why is H1B visa for 3 years and not 3 months? (Maybe he is not too familiar with H1B visa)
- What is the address where he lives in the US?

Didn't ask for any other documents except for passport. Stamped new passport with the expiry date until I797 expiry along with the same in the paper I94. Checked the online record and saw that it got updated after a day.

Hope this helps for anyone who might be in a similar situation!