I94 correction with F1 OPT visa and i94 end date as D-S

USA
1

Hi Anil,

I am on F1 OPT visa and have applied for extension and I am still waiting for it. I just got my passport renewed as it was getting expired. I have few questions. Please guide.

  1. On my i94, the admit date until is D/S. there is no exact date, as I can be in United States as long as I maintain my F1 status. So does this mean I just need to update my new passport number with my previous i94 records ??
  2. If so how do I do that ??? bcoz when I access i94 page, it says no records found as I have not travelled outside the country. And for DMV, they ask for i94 copies. so what do I do ? please help.
  3. If I have to the above, what documents should I Carry? as I dont have i797 (this is for H1 process I believe)
  4. Can I go SF or SJC international airport for the attachment ?
  5. I dont want to travel outside and come back to get my i94 attached. Can I do it at SENTRI or any other international airports ???
    Please help.
2

Hi @pranav_deshpande

  1. There is no need to update passport number on your i94 as your end date is governed by your F1 visa status with end date =‘D/S’.

People who have the i94 expiry date mentioned as a concrete date (that was matched to their passport expiry) need to get it corrected after passport renewal.

  1. You should be able to get your i94 online if you enter your OLD passport number.

3,4,5 - You do not need to update your i94.

3

Thank you so much Anil for such a quick response. I have another question.

  1. So for DMV, can I use the i94 generated by old passport ???
  2. And may be not now, is there a need to update the passport number on i94 ever, as I might be on OPT extension for 2 more years if my H1 is not approved.???
  3. So my question is when should I update it ??
4

Even if you get the i94 updated or corrected at border, they do not attach it your new passport number unless you cross border and re-enter US.

For DMV, you can use the i94 generated online. They should accept it when you show them both your passports (the old and new one).

There is no need to explicitly update the i94 with passport number as far as I know.
Your i94 expiry is attached to your F1 status, so you do not need to worry about i94 expiry date.

5

Hi Anil,

Thank you so much. Today when I tried to access i94 using my new passport number I freaked out.

As I said I am on F1 OPT visa, and my first EAD has expired and now I have applied for extension and I am waiting for it. I have the OPT Extension i20 to support this.

But all the OPT extension i20 are valid for 30 days only. So in this case, does the i94 scenario hold good for me ???

6

Give me some time (a day). I will double check on this question and reply back.

7

Sure Anil, I will wait for your reply.

Thanks,
Pranav

8

Hi Pranav,
I checked about this case and I am not sure if I understand your issue correctly.

Where is it mentioned that OPT extension i20 is valid for only 30 days? Can you share any reference?

As far as I could confirm, your get automatic 180 days extension until as decision is made on your extension application.