I94 extension at San Diego Ysidro US Mexico Border, Old passport expired, Renewed passport

Visa enables you to get entry into USA. Your stay is USA is controlled by i94 expiry date. You can only stay up to your i94 date even though you have visa beyond i94 date. If you have approved petition and you are in US. You can continue to stay in USA. But if you go out of country and comeback then you need visa even if you have approved petition. Hope this helps.

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Hi All , I have medical need to go to Mexico , There is one doctor who can meet my medical needs . I have to go for 5 days . Can i go to mexico only on valid petition(I-94) and expired visa , In my petition , I have new I-94 number which is valid . I want ask fellow people, if there is any issue at border Or it is easy

Here is one rule called

Automatic Revalidation

Re-entering the United States with a Valid I-94 Form and Expired Visa is Limited

What Is Automatic Revalidation?

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has the authority and the responsibility over the admission of travelers to the United States. Under the automatic revalidation provision of immigration law, certain temporary visitors holding expired nonimmigrant visas who seek to return to the U.S. may be admitted at a U.S. port-of-entry by CBP, if they meet certain requirements, including, but not limited to the following:

  • Nonimmigrants who departed the United States for brief travel to Canada, Mexico for thirty days or less;
  • Nonimmigrants with a valid (unexpired) admission stamp or paper Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, endorsed by DHS.

Hi,

Has anyone got there i-94 extended ? I have got to get the i-94 extended and I saw this update from CBP that SENTRI is closed till 10th August

Could anyone let me know if there is still a possibility to get the i-94 extended at SENTRI ?

Hi @ash_swa

Did you care to read this update on AVR process durong travel ban before writing the same question multiple times?

You are spamming everywhere without even trying to find solution.

Thank you for all detailed posts. Today (7/2/2020) I went to San Ysidro port of entry, crossed the boarder and get the I-94 extended for my daughter.
I asked few questions earlier about different buildings and the purpose. I try to clarify those things here

  1. Blue Building - San Ysidro port of entry : This is the final building where people will go after crossing from Mexico. It is not required to go here first.
  2. To Mexico : Instead one can follow the directions “To Mexico” found just out side of the above building.
  3. Once you complete formalities at Mexico side, exit into Mexico and take U-turn and join the queue which goes into USA.
  4. Yellow Building : This is the main building where I-94 extension will happen
  5. Blue Building : This is final entry point into USA and so officer will check the validity of Visa.

Overall it is smooth process and expect at least 2 hours of time in the queues.

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Online I94 date vs extended H1B I797 I94 date

True ! Worked for me too. I got my i94 extended today -07/03/2020.
The ped west is closed. However, as mentioned above By Kolli we have to walk to the Blue building By walking on the bridge which is to the right of ped west . After walking there exit from the gate and join the line to entre the US and head back back towards blue building. The permit extension happens in the Yellow building. The entire process took 3 hours for me as there is a huge line.

Thanks for this post everyone and Anil. It was really helpful.

Best Regards!

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Hi Manohar:

Thanks a lot for sharing you experience.
A bit confused here while the first officer told her that she doesn’t need to cross border as her I-797 doesn’t expire until 2022, why did the second tell a different story and your fiancee still go across border? Does it still lead to differences?

One more question, did the officer tell her under what conditions one has to cross border? What if I94 expired over 180 days; has valid i797(valid i94 on i797), but H1B visa expired?

Thanks

Hi Kwan7353,
That happened because she failed to mention that her most recent I-94 was generated at the airport from her last trip. The first officer thought that her I-797’s I-94 is the most recent I-94 and therefore, there wasn’t a need to cross the order. We realized this error and when the second officer came, she clarified her situation.
As for your second question, the officer did not elaborate on the conditions. Is the i94 on your I797 the most recent I94?

Hi Anil ,

If I have valid i797 but visa stamping on old passport is already expired , then can I extend my i94 on US Mexico border? Is valid stamped Visa require to do so ,

Hi Kolli,

What’s the reason your i 94 and her i 94 doesn’t match. You daughter’s passport expired ? . What kind of documents did you show them to prove She is your daughter ?

Hi Mallawa - Yes, she has been given I-94 based on her passport. We renewed her passport in USA. They really did not ask any documents to prove our relationship. But her passport is having my name and we shown both of our I-797 approval notices.

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Yes. You need valid visa to enter into USA and Mexico.

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Thank you very much!!! Unfortunately my i94 on 797 is not the most recent one…Guess needs to cross? But really hard to do now given expired i94/visa and potential travel bans due to Covid19/Trump’s order…

Hello folks,

I’m heading to San Ysidro border-post for I94 extension during the weekend of Aug-1st or Aug-8th. Though many of the messages above talk about the CBP office being open 24x7, they don’t explicitly mention if they’re open or closed during weekends. Can someone please clarify?

Sorry for being picky but I’m driving 500+ miles with a wheelchair bound daughter and don’t want to take chances.

Thank you,
Raghu

Yesterday, (Saturday, August 1st, 2020), I flew from San Jose to San Diego. Took an UBER to go to the building shown in the picture (I think it is the WEST office), which was CLOSED. Then the UBER driver took me to a place near the other big building (I think it is the EAST office). It was a walking distance from the UBER drop off point. There was McDonald and Metro Train Station in front. I went to the entrance (I think it is actually an exit) and told the guards that I came for my I-94 update. He called a supervisor from inside who asked me to cross over to Mexico and come back. I then walked to the walkway, there was a turnstile gate at the entry and another at the exit. There was an X-Ray scanning machine where my bag was scanned. As soon as you exit that facility, you are in Mexico - you see many Taxis and shops. I asked one of the taxi drivers for a way back to the US who showed me a queue where I joined. It was a very long queue took 90 minutes to come near the gate of US immigration. Then I saw a couple directly going to the guards near the gate and he directed them to the yellow building. I too came out of the queue and showed my passport with my L1A visa and told him that I have come for I-94 update due to passport renewal. He let me in and directed me to the yellow building. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Since there was ONLY ONE LINE and NOBODY was there to guide at the tail end of the line, I ended up wasting 90 minutes. Please make sure that you directly go to the gate and they would let you in. Inside the YELLOW building, the officer called me and asked me to show both my passports and also for the ID - I showed him my California Driver Licence. He also asked for the I-797 since he had to enter the petition number in the system. He took my fingerprints and photo and said I am done. He also gave me a paper I-94. I verified and found that he had wrongly put the Visa category as L1-B. By that time the officer had already gone for lunch. There was another officer who helped with the whole process again but this time, he entered my OLD passport number. When I pointed out the same to him, he said it was OK because anyway I have the I-94 extended. I told him that my old passport is canceled and we need to use the new passport number. He did the whole process again and updated the passport number. Each time, it generates a new I-94 and fingerprints and photos were taken each time. After exiting the Yellow building, I went to the main immigration office where they just verified the passport and asked where is the “stamp”. I told them that they have put the entry stamp on the new passport. They verified the same and I was all set.
While standing in the long queue, I was worried if I would be able to make it for my return flight which was at 3-45pm. However I was able to reach the airport by UBER well in time.
I did not see Mexican Immigration anywhere in the process - only a place where I had to scan my bag - I am not sure if it was the “immigration” office. There was no paperwork whatsoever.

We are planning to go this Saturday 08/08 to San Diego from Bay Area for I-94 update… Let us know anyone wants to join!!

Thanks for details Ram… Will go over this weekend … please send me msg , need some more details.

Acknowledging. Send me a message with your contact so I can provide whatever further info I can…

Regards,

Ram

Hi Anil and all,

My I-94 is expiring in Nov 2020 due to passport expiry. I renewed my passport and I have valid visa till August 2021. As some one suggested that, at Otay mesa border, there is no need to cross US/Mexico border for I-94 extension. When we went there, the CBP officer ask us to cross the border for I-94 extension but when we returned the other officer didn’t stamp the I-94 and they said, they will extend I-94 only a week before the current I-94 expiry.

Is it the case case at San Ysidro border as well? @Ramchandra,@Gaurav, was your I-94 about to expire when you went for I-94 renew?

Regards,
Manju