What to do I-94 NEVER issued.

[sera77 35]

When my fiance entered at LAX on the K1 he was not aware that he had to fill out the I 94 himself and have the agent stamp and put it in the passport. The agent took his k1 package and told him welcome to america, stamped his passport with the entry date and let him go without the I94. She did not tell him he needed one, and he had no clue that he did.

When it came time to fill out the AOS and we realized we were missing this crucial bit of paperwork we simply drove to the Buffalo/Canada border and they gave him a new one (this was 2 months after his u.s. entry). The officials at the border did closely question him and scrutinize all the paperwork he brought with them before issuing him one.

Be sure you have all your paperwork and your truthful story straight and clear. You might get intensive questioning, you might not.

[mo&sain 0]

Hi All,

Not sure if this is the end of the road...maybe you guys can chime in with suggestions once again. I would greatly appreciate that.

SO.

Went down to CBP at BWI yesterday and told them the situation and the officer was adamant that they "always give an i-94". He made it seems as if they NEVER make a mistake. I asked wouldnt they have the top part of the form if he did fill it out and he said "We send everything off so we don't have any file of it"

#######?

He told me to file for a replacement, and after hearing that i just got upset and told my fiance' lets go.

My plan is to file a complaint, file for a replacement and see about having them waive the fee as this is no fault of our own.

Also, a lot of you are mentioning to bring paper work? What would that include?

Is this a good idea? What should I do?

Edited August 9, 2011 by mo&sain

[sera77 35]

Paperwork he took with him into the office to speak to the border officials were the original NOA1, NOA2, copy of the 129 package I had originally filed for him, file of the yet to be mailed off AOS paperwork we were going to send off, a certified copy of our marriage certificate,and his passport (which had the stamp from entering the country but no i94 of course).

I hadn't gone with him because it was a work day for me, but thinking back if I'd known how serious it was I certainly would have taken the day off and gone along...

As it was I was simply making sure he had all the paperwork to prove we had gotten the visa, he had used it within the timeframe, we had married legally, and we were filing for the aos within the 90 days after he had entered the country. I know, I know, you don't HAVE to file within 90 days, but that's how I am with paperwork and USCIS after reading all the stories on Visajourney.

By the way, before going to the border he had gone to an INFOPASS appointment and the person there had no clue what to do. Perhaps I'm being harsh but she had to call around other offices and finally came up with the solution of applying for a new i 94 at the cost of several hundred dollars, (i think it was something like 400).

[sera77 35]

I just wanted to add, my husband (then fiance) also did not fill out the i 94 because he didn't know he had to and because of this they didn't HAVE to let him have a new one at the border control office. My husband admitted he made that mistake, apologized and asked for help and happened to get a person who was willing to take the time to help him out. They did grill him pretty thoroughly after taking his paperwork and going through it, i guess checking to see if he could answer consistently without the paperwork in front of him.

They could have just sent him on his way and we would have had to apply for it at our cost, our mistake since he didn't fill one out and hand it over originally.

[mo&sain 0]

I just wanted to add, my husband (then fiance) also did not fill out the i 94 because he didn't know he had to and because of this they didn't HAVE to let him have a new one at the border control office. My husband admitted he made that mistake, apologized and asked for help and happened to get a person who was willing to take the time to help him out. They did grill him pretty thoroughly after taking his paperwork and going through it, i guess checking to see if he could answer consistently without the paperwork in front of him.

They could have just sent him on his way and we would have had to apply for it at our cost, our mistake since he didn't fill one out and hand it over originally.

Doesn't look like he'll have the same fate. I am putting in a complaint, both online and written to US CBP office here in DC and filing for a replacement, and attatching a statement of what happened. I may even write to the congresswoman...

[mo&sain 0]

Hi All,

Just an update. We went to Dulles International's CBP Deferred Inspection office, explained the story and was given an I-94 with no hassle at all. He simply told us to fill it out and stapled the bottom portion.