I-94 deleted from system based on return ticket...now what?

[GJ&Rach 12]

Ok so when he bought his ticket to come over on the approved k-1 visa, he bought a round trip ticket because it was 1/5th of the price. He arrived on oct 17th. We got married the 21st. We printed out his 1-94 from the website, then applied for a SS#. He hasn't received his SS number yet (it's been like 7-8 weeks) because there's 'some glitch with the SS computers and the DHS computers talking or something, working on it'. Now we're trying to do the AOS, but apparently his I-94 isn't in the system anymore. So I called customs at the chicago airport where he came in, they said that sometimes if the person gets a round trip ticket, the airline will automatically put it in the system, which boots the I-94 out of the computer system. And to fix it we have to physically go into the customs office (several hours away) to prove he's still here and give them the passport and visa and such.

So do we have to do that before we can file the AOS? His k-1 runs out the 14th of january! I'm guessing this is also why he hasn't got the SS number....what now?

[slowlyman 118]

I don;t know if this is good advise or not, but I would make a USCIS appointment at your local office. rather then deal with customs.

You should have the physical I-94, an "A" number, and the expiration date of the I-94. Booted out of the system or not as long as you file AOS before the I-94 expires you should be ok.

The question that comes to my mind would be if they "dump" his file do they consider is petition abandoned.

I'm really shooting from the hip here. Just thinking out loud really. Personally I would start with a USCIS appointment. They are the next step in the journey and are in a position to give you the best advise.

Edited December 30, 2013 by slowlyman

[GJ&Rach 12]

He didnt get a paper I-94, he got a stamp in his passport with k1, jan '14 written on it.

[slowlyman 118]

Yes, the I-94 is digital now. You would have gone to the website, entered your passport # then printed off the I-94

Actually, you could try that now to see if they really did scuttle his I-94

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html;jsessionid=5sFJSCNHzB2FNhB9V9fPHRnVDzZsHvMhwv5y12M02yfLFKGG69FJ

Edited December 31, 2013 by slowlyman

[GJ&Rach 12]

When we printed the I-94 off that site right after we got married in october, it was there. Now it isn't. I have what we printed a couple of months ago, but if the website doesnt show it...then what?

[slowlyman 118]

USCIS appointment.

[GJ&Rach 12]

UPDATE:

Ok so I called all over the place. Dunno if anyone remembers the nightmare we had trying to get his stuff he imported, the customs office in st louis gave us grief over it.

Well, I called USCIS, they told me to file form I-102, which has a $330 filing fee. UGH. So i called the department of homeland security, they said call the customs office. The customs department told us to call the customs office in the airport he entered the US in. The airport said what happened is this: since he had a return ticket, the airline automatically put his name on the departing list, so the departure was entered in the system, which inactivated his I-94 number. So they said he needed to physically go in to the nearest office (st louis MO or Chicago IL) and have them remove the departure from the system.

Well, since chicago is 5 hours, and st louis is 2....I took a chance and called the st louis office to see what their protocol is for this. I told them what happened, and asked if maybe they remembered us. LOL. It was the same officer that gave us grief when we were there before. He remembered us, and he remembered when we were there. He looked GJ up in the system...looked at the departure date listed...he remembered we were there almost a month after the listed departure. He got permission from his supervisor to simply delete the departure from the system, did it right over the phone. Now the number shows up again.

So, Problem solved! I guess it evened out in the end with that customs office

[slowlyman 118]

Good for you! Glad it worked out. Funny he remembered you though.

[Dave&Roza 748]

UPDATE:

Ok so I called all over the place. Dunno if anyone remembers the nightmare we had trying to get his stuff he imported, the customs office in st louis gave us grief over it.

Well, I called USCIS, they told me to file form I-102, which has a $330 filing fee. UGH. So i called the department of homeland security, they said call the customs office. The customs department told us to call the customs office in the airport he entered the US in. The airport said what happened is this: since he had a return ticket, the airline automatically put his name on the departing list, so the departure was entered in the system, which inactivated his I-94 number. So they said he needed to physically go in to the nearest office (st louis MO or Chicago IL) and have them remove the departure from the system.

Well, since chicago is 5 hours, and st louis is 2....I took a chance and called the st louis office to see what their protocol is for this. I told them what happened, and asked if maybe they remembered us. LOL. It was the same officer that gave us grief when we were there before. He remembered us, and he remembered when we were there. He looked GJ up in the system...looked at the departure date listed...he remembered we were there almost a month after the listed departure. He got permission from his supervisor to simply delete the departure from the system, did it right over the phone. Now the number shows up again.

So, Problem solved! I guess it evened out in the end with that customs office

This is another reason why one should cancel the return leg of the RT ticket because airlines make mistakes. It is good you got this corrected now, because it would have come back to bite you during the adjustment of status (AOS) phase in which they would have issued you a denial for having left the country without AP or the GC and it would be upon you to prove that your husband did not leave. There have been a few cases reported here on VJ. So the wisdom is now that if a K-1 visa holder purchases a RT ticket they should ALWAY cancel the return leg and keep proof of that cancelation just in case.

Sorry I did not see this thread earlier as I would have suggested that you contact the CBP at the airport of arrival to have them help you out--it would have saved you a couple of phones calls. I am glad it did work out and that you could do this over the phone rather than make the drive.

Dave

[Dave&Roza 748]

I don;t know if this is good advise or not, but I would make a USCIS appointment at your local office. rather then deal with customs.

You should have the physical I-94, an "A" number, and the expiration date of the I-94. Booted out of the system or not as long as you file AOS before the I-94 expires you should be ok.

The question that comes to my mind would be if they "dump" his file do they consider is petition abandoned.

I'm really shooting from the hip here. Just thinking out loud really. Personally I would start with a USCIS appointment. They are the next step in the journey and are in a position to give you the best advise.

The problem is that if you leave the country without advance parole (AP) or the GC after entering on a K-1 visa, then your AOS is considered abandoned and you would have to start all over again. In this case the USCIS would deny the AOS and the OP would have to prove that the husband did not leave the country after appealing the denial. Very hard to prove a negative. FYI: there is not time limit to file the AOS, the only requirement for a K-1 is to get married within days after entering the US or before the I-94 expires. Also this is a CBP problem not a USCIS problem so the OP should start at the airport of entry to get this corrected--it turns out that the CBP in ST. Louis was the better choice in the end.

Dave

[Darnell 8,478]

When we printed the I-94 off that site right after we got married in october, it was there. Now it isn't. I have what we printed a couple of months ago, but if the website doesnt show it...then what?

As long as you have that, that's fine. USCIS can pull a deep recovery request from CBP, if need be, from the archive. That's some internal thing, you won't be involved with it or even need to request that it get done.

Hindsight is fun, if anyone else reading this is in the same problem, remember to cancel the return leg with the airline 1 to 3 days after landing.

Also, just give a copy of that I-94, don't give over the original with the AOS submittal.

All is well, at the moment.

Go Get Em, and Good Luck !

[Darnell 8,478]

USCIS appointment.

Alas, USCIS cannot fix a CBP data record, and the problem with the OP's data record for the I-94 was with arrivals and departures,

and all of that is handled by CBP. Luckily, almost any CBP office can fix this,

and doubly luckly, not only did the OP get it fixed, but they got it fixed over the phone, no driving required.

In the future, I ask, nay, I beg, of you - Please do not suggest USCIS to fix arrival/departure errors, I-94 errors . Thanks so much, and Thanks in Advance !