I-94 Departure record not collected

[Brooklyn23 0]

Hi all,

I am hoping someone may have experienced a similar scenario or can shed some light on the following: I flew back into the UK today after visiting my Fiance in the US for the last week, on arriving at UK immigration I noticed the green departure record that they staple into your passport under the visa waiver program had not been removed as is usual at check in.I notified the UK passport control who told me it it the airline's representative's responsibility to remove it and as I had presented my passport I had given them ample opportunity to do so so it was fine.

That is all well and good BUT my Fiance sent off our I-129F packet (at last!) today and now I'm really worried that because US immigration do not have an adequate record of my departure from the US this may impact our application. I read up on the DHS website and it says it is now my responsibility to write to an address they provide in Kentucky and prove that I left the US with boarding pass, credit card transaction records from the UK, letter from my employer etc - all because the check in clerk missed my form! Obviously I will supply this info to them rather than risk it but was wondering if anyone else had been in a similar situation and what the outcome was?

Thanks in advance and apologies if this seems at all neurotic -only I've been browsing this site for a while now and am well aware of all of the possible issues with this process...

Lauren

[featherB 1]

This probably won't reassure you that much, but the same thing (the airline representative forgetting to remove my I-94W from my passport when I left the US) happened to me last December. I didn't notice until about 3 days before I was due to fly back again, this summer (which was over six months since I'd entered the US previously- I did as it said on the Embassy website and sent the form to that address in Kentucky, and was really worried that I'd have trouble entering the country and that they'd have me on record as having overstayed - especially as by this time it was about 7 months since I'd entered the US previously. I got a bit of a grilling because of the fact that I'd been to the US three times in the previous year, but was just asked how long each stay had been - I'm pretty sure I would have had much more of a hard time if the guy had suspected I'd overstayed at any point, and had everything ready to show him as proof that I hadn't, but there was no mention of that at all.

I know that's a bit different to your situation (congratulations on sending off the I-129F, by the way... we sent ours off a week or so ago, and I also flew back into the UK today after staying with my fiance for a while), though... I remember at the time being in a total panic and hunting high and low for any way of contacting the USCIS place in Kentucky to check that they'd received the form. No luck though - the best I could find was that you could write to them after four months to make sure they'd updated the records - hardly very reassuring! I had no trouble entering the US in the summer though, and no trouble this time either... in your case, I'd hope that if you were only there for a week, and you send the form back as soon as you can, then they'll have hopefully received it and updated the records long before the 90 days since you entered the US are up...

Sorry that that's not much use - just wanted to say that my one experience of 'failing to surrender' that form (they seem to have taken to removing it from my passport at check-in and stapling it to my boarding card the last couple of times I've flown back from the US - much more sensible, the airline staff can't miss it that way!) turned out to be no problem at all, despite all the nightmares I was having about it!

Good luck with the I-129F, by the way - hope it all goes smoothly (and fast) for you!

[Ladylethal 12]

Here's the information taken from the American Consulate website explaining how to proceed. Btw, I've had the same situation and only returned my I-94 a year later, using these steps. I received a letter confirming that my departure has been recorded and had no problems at POE.

I-94 form is a white or green (for I-94W) arrival/departure form issued by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer to foreign visitors to the United States. The form is usually distributed on the airplane or you can always find it upon arrival in the airport in the U.S. Each and every visitor is required to complete the form before passing through the Immigration at the port of entry.

The admitting Customs and Border Protection officer will staple the form to your passport and stamp the date until which you are authorized to stay in the U.S. (i.e. your departure date) on the form. You must leave the United States until the departure date and turn in the I-94 form upon leaving the U.S. The I-94 card is usually removed from your passport by the airline staff at the check-in counter when registering for your flight departing the U.S. (but not always – so be sure to check!). If you don’t turn in the form, your departure from the U.S. will not be recorded, and, consequently, next time your travel, your record will show that you “overstayed” and you may be denied entry to the country.

If you did not turn in your I-94 form when leaving the U.S., please mail it together with the copies of other documents that can prove that you are no longer in the United States.

Here are examples of supporting documentation:

· The boarding pass you used to depart the United States

· Photocopies of entry or departure stamps in your passport indicating entry to another country after you departed the United States (you should copy all passport pages that are not completely blank, and include the biographical page containing your photograph)

· Dated pay slips or vouchers from your employer to indicate you were in another country after you departed the United States

· Dated bank records showing transactions to indicate you were in another country after you left the United States

· School records showing attendance at a school outside the United States to indicate you were in another country after you left the United States

· Dated credit card receipts, showing your name, but, the credit card number deleted, for purchases made after you left the United States to indicate you were in another country after leaving the United States, etc.

The address you should mail your I-94 and the supporting documentation is:

ACS-INS SBU

P.O. Box 7125

London, KY 40742-7125

USA

If you would like to confirm that your departure has been recorded, please, wait four months and then send a letter to:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Air Sea Passenger Operations

Room 5.4D1300 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington D.C. 20229

Include the following information: your question (Was my departure from the United States recorded?) in addition to your name, date of birth, passport number and the date of departure.

[michellek1976 0]

That happened to me once. I called my local US embassy. They advised me to send the I-94 card along with my boarding pass showing my flight home back to them.

It happens quite regularly so I always check now that they take the card when I'm checking in to my flight!

[Brooklyn23 0]

Thank you all for your responses, I feel re-assured now but will still be hurrying to send the card back right away, so much hassle over something that shouldn't be difficult! One thing is for sure, next time I'll be checking my passport much more closely...

Wishing all of you the best with your applications - have my fingers crossed for us all!

Lauren