I-94 question

[JoeF]

You hand all three to the airline.

[mandanmal]

I-94 question

Hi!!

I have a question regarding i-94. I am planning to go to India next month. Initially i came to U.S on H1-b visa on 12 April '99 and i was given I-94 with expiration date 01/10/2002 matching with my H1-b visa. Then i changed my status in Dec 2000 to H4 based on my husband's H1 and i got an approval notice(i-797) along with attached i-94 which had expiration date 04/20/2002. My lawyer again filed extension in Dec 2001 and i again received i-797 along with attached i-94 with expiration 04/20/2005. Now the question is which i-94 do i have to give the officer while departing from U.S? and what about those i-94 which will remain with me??
Thanking you in advance.

[damnezuser]

If only the expired I-94 is submitted (and the extended I-94 is still with the H1B reval), will there be problems entering back to US?

The extended I-94 on the H1B reval has the same number, so wouldn't "the system" be able to accept any of the I-94 and verify the validity of the person's legal status before departure. Perhaps the system is not automated.

In any case I need to know if there will be issues in returning back if the valid I-94 is not submitted to the airline.

Thanks in advance.

[damnezuser]

I am still awaiting response from others in this forum. However, meanwhile I contacted the airline to check if they know what could be done, if a passenger submits only one out of several I94 he/she has, specifically if an expired I94 is submitted and the valid I94 is carried by the passenger outside the country. The airline agent handlign the checkin at the airport inquired around and got back to me with an answer that - if the number on the different I94 matches, it should be alright if any of the I94 is submitted at the airport.

Any comments/experiences from others?

[cpdelin]

I can tell you some of my experience. I have done this thrice. Everytime I left this country I surrendered my current unexpired I-94 to airline. At the check-in the airline person asks for your legal presence and they keep the I-94. If you have multiple unexpired I-94 just give one of them. All I-94 has same number if you have filed for extention without leaving the country. You will get new I-94 with new number when you return back to USA. I still have so many expired I-94 with me now. They are just part of record. This whole information is about 3 years old. Hope this answers some of you questions.
Thanks

[damnezuser]

I think as long as the I94 you handoff is unexpired, there are no worries (even though you may have other unexpired I94 with you).

The question is - what if you handed off the "expired I94" and carried the unexpired I94 with you outside the country. Will there be a problem in re-entering to USA.

[cpdelin]

Re: I-94 Question

If you give expired I-94 to airline person he might notice it and may ask if there is any unexpired I-94. Another scenerio is he may not notice it and you leave the country. Will there be any problem later on at the time of entry, I have no idea about it. At the time of entry they look at visa. Will there be any problem down the road, is not clear. But I do not understand why someone wants to surrender the expired I-94 and keep the unexpired I-94? That unexpired I-94 will not help you to re-enter the country. Because when you leave your country (India) the immigration officer in India wants to see your visa in passport not your unexpired I-94.