Travel while awaiting new I-94

[isanna]

I lost my I-94 my first month in US (B1/B2 Visa), sent in an I-102, and received an I-797 Notice of Action dated July 28. The problem is that my travel date to leave is in one month, and the current process time at the Cal. Service Center is over 5 months. Will my leaving before receiving a new I-94 affect me adversely? I plan to apply for residency (my husband is US citizen) within the next couple of months.

[peace]

One is supposed to deposit the i-94 while leaving US with the airline crew who forward it to the US immigration, who then update the system with your date of departure.

Failure to deposit your I-94 before the expiry date on it will make the system record an overstay. Your applying for a duplicate may or may not be coordinated with your record of an overstay.

An overstay recorded in the system can have very serious consequences on your future entries,
even if you apply for an immigrant visa as a spouse of US citizen.

If you really have to leave, I suggest you call USCIS before leaving and ask them what you should do. If you donot get a satisfactory answer you could talk to an attorney.

Also read this page;
https://www.immihelp.com/form-i-94/

*When leaving US, save the notice of action document, boarding passes for your journey home and a copy of your original I-94. They may be required during future entries to US or when applying for an immigrant visa at US embassy at your home country.

[txh1b]

This is what you need to do. Leave as planned before the I-94 expiry. Keep all proofs of you leaving like ticket, boarding pass, luggage tags, entry stamp in another country etc. After you get your replacement I-94, you can turn it back in along with the proof of departure.

You should also keep the departure proofs for entry at a later date as the CBP can ask you to prove that you did not overstay.