I-94

[lanlan 0]

i just want to ask regarding on I-94, theres a question on I-130 regarding on I-94, we dont know what exactly it is, is theres anyone that you can help me. thanks.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

The I-94 should be stapled into your passport

now not all countries require an I-94. Canadians, although is known to do so, does not regularly get I-94s.

Good luck

[HeatDeath 430]

The I-94 is a piece of paper issued by the US border officers at the PoE to anyone who enters on a non-immigrant visa. It has your name, they type of the visa, and in big bold letters, an expiration date, by which time you must have left the country.

Europeans entering the US on the Visa Waiver Program get an I-94W, which is basically the same thing, only green instead of white.

Most Canadians never get one, because most Canadians enter the US as Canadian tourists. Canadian tourists are under a different visa-free classification than the VWP, and are not given either an I-94, or an I-94W.

In our context here, most Canadians who have I-94s got them because they entered on a K-1 visa. I believe entrants on TN and other nonimmigrant work visas also get them. People who enter on a CR-1/IR-1 visa don't get them, because those are immigrant visas.

I infer that, since you are filing an I-130, and do not have an I-94 (unless it is stapled in your Canadian passport and you just haven't found it yet) you are probably adjusting status from entering as a Canadian tourist. If you include in your I-130 packet a note to the effect that you do not have an I-94 because you entered as a Canadian tourist, not intending to AOS at the time of entry, you should be fine.

Edited August 31, 2010 by HeatDeath

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

They don't actually "issue" the I-94 at the port of entry. It's a form they usually give you before you arrive (e.g., a flight attendant might give you one on the airplane), or you fill out after arriving but before going through immigration. The form has two parts - a more detailed upper portion, and a summary lower portion. The immigration officer separates the two parts, keeps the upper portion, stamps the lower portion and staples it into the passport.

[HeatDeath 430]

Well, they do if you drive in, but I'll concede the point for airport PoEs.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Well, they do if you drive in, but I'll concede the point for airport PoEs.

I've never been in a car crossing the border with someone who wasn't a US citizen. Are you saying they actually fill out the form for you? Or, do they just hand you the form and let you fill it out?

They don't "issue" the I-94 any more than they "issue" an I-130 or an I-864. These are just immigration forms. You can download the I-94 from the CBP website and print up as many copies as you like. It doesn't become authorization to stay in the US until CBP stamps it. Something like a visa, green card, or EAD is "issued" by the US immigration. I suppose you could also make the argument that the CBP stamp is "issued", but the form itself is not. You should be able to prepare an I-94 for submission before you even leave your house.

[HeatDeath 430]

When I entered the US, PoEing on my K-1 visa, they generated my I-94 on a computer. [Actually, they did it twice, because they accidentally made a multiple-entry I-94 the first time around.] I never filled out a single thing. It was issued to me, every bit as much as the visa the consulate pasted in my passport was issued to me.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

When I entered the US, PoEing on my K-1 visa, they generated my I-94 on a computer. [Actually, they did it twice, because they accidentally made a multiple-entry I-94 the first time around.] I never filled out a single thing. It was issued to me, every bit as much as the visa the consulate pasted in my passport was issued to me.

Cool! I didn't know they did that!