Ok, I will be reaching there by 11 let’s see if we can meet
@Neeraj_Jain @nirmaldreamz thanks for your inputs.
This morning (Sunday 10/25/2020) at 6AM I crossed PedEast border, took U-turn and got I-94 updated. It was very quick and completed the whole process in 30 minutes. No crowd at all.
I am on H-1B and I got limited admission on I-94 at SFO due to passport expiry.
I followed this forum and throughly studied Google Maps and watched these videos to get clarity
Crossing border @PedEast by walk into Tijuana Mexico Walking into Tijuana Mexico using the San Ysidro Crossing 2019 - YouTube
Walk back to US @PedEast How to Cross into the U.S. from Tijuana Mexico Using The San Ysidro Border Crossing 2019 - YouTube
No visa to enter into Mexico and no forms filled at Mexico Immigration. One officer on Mexico side checked passport and asked why I am coming into Mexico, I said I-94 update.
While entering US, showed passport to guards at border and told I am here for I-94 update. Just walked few steps and entered into Permits office (yellow building). I prepaid I-94 fee I94 - Official Website and explained to officer and showed fee receipt, passports, I-797.
Like others mentioned, here CBP officer seems clueless about I-94, checked with another officer and issued new I-94 valid till my visa stamp validity in passport which is expiring in few weeks from today.
I told him that my attorney said CBP would issue I-94 till I-797 expiry and then he called one more officer to check on it and corrected with one more new I-94.
Just walked through another building to enter into US.
I am traveling to San Diego international airport from Texas this Nov Second week,
Please help me with the below queries :
Purpose: i94 extinction due to passport renewal
I am on h1b and my wife on h4
my current i94 is still valid till Feb2021 and i797 is till Aug2021.
- Do we need to carry ID’s along with supporting documents since my wife is on h4 she does not have SSN ( ITIN applied so not available currently )
- Is there any chance for entry rejection in to the USA from Mexico after board crossing? since I saw on one website they rejected
- Do we need to carry client letters as well? Since I work for inhouse projects
Please confirm 499 Virgina Ave, San Diego CA 92173 is the address this process is going to take place becase i am planning to go by Cab.
any additional information would be appreciated.
Thanks.
T.
- your passport is your ID. have DL/utility bill for address proof in US.
- anything is possible, but you should be good if you have valid visa in your passports
- all they want is I-797, passports, valid visa. any extra docs doesn’t hurt
That address is right for PedWest, I guess that’s currently closed. If you are going to PedEast and driving on your own and want to park your car, paid parking available, may be behind Jack In The Box, just be careful with google maps which may take you into Mexico but if you read signs you are good and you can probably take last exit if you miss something. If you are going in taxi, Mc Donalds address is good 727 E San Ysidro Blvd, San Ysidro, CA 92173.
Again, I advice you to do your homework .ie. read this forum, you will probably find all your questions already answered
Thank you @Siemens_Malvern for the detailed information
Just to confirm so this process can be done at both places rite Pedwest or PedEast in case one of the centers is closed.
Basically what would be my backup plans in case any of the office is closed because i have a return flight to catch on the same day at 3.30 pm so.
I will be traveling by taxi from San Diego international airport so if possible please share both the offices address for i94 extinction.
Thanks.
T
Did anyone recently got the i-94 extension done from Pedwest office? Is this office open now for i-94 extn?
Its is open. You can visit.
Just my 2 cents on this…
Last Friday [12/11/2020] at 2:30 PM my family and I crossed the PedEast Border, Took a U-Turn, and got i94 extn done for my son. The process was quick and luckily less crowded during that time.
Thoroughly read this forum, did some homework going thro’ the Google Maps, and watching border crossing videos. It helped me a lot.
Parked my car in the Outlet parking lot closed to PedWest and walked to the PedWest office and got to know they will not allow the crossing anymore here. Then we started walking toward the east, crossed the Ped bridge over the US-Mexico Highway across, and entered the Main Building office, where the East land crossing starts. It is about 0.8 miles walk.
After entering thro’ the turnstile entered the Mexico immigration, the officer asked the reason for travel and I said it’s for I-94 update he asked me to fill the Immigration form and got an entry Mexico stamp on all our passports and there were no immigration fees.
Walked to the baggage security [was carrying a laptop, camera, books, etc] and then exit the building to hit the streets of Tijuana(Baja California). After walking 0.5 miles got into the line to enter the US showed all the passport to guards at the border and told I am here for an I-94 update. Just walked a few steps and entered into Permits office (yellow building). Asked to get the I-94 updated showed the old [expired] and new passport, I-797A, USA address proof and they asked me to pay $6 fee in next counter. With all this, she issued a new I-94.
Just walked through another building to enter the US Immigration line, usual interview / Security check [Like you have when coming from any other country]. Just they scan all the passports “No stamp”, no i-94 update. Exit the building walk back 0.8 miles to the car parking area via Ped Bridge. Drive back to bayarea and reached home the same day. Covered 1000 miles in 1 day 
Good Luck Guys…
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Did you have to cross the border @pedwest ? Or Did you get I94 done right @ CBP office within US Territory
Just want to share my experience on crossing border (Otay Mesa) for I-94 updation.
I traveled with my wife and kids. We took masks, face-shield, gloves for our protection.
Started from Bayarea @ 4:30AM (Saturday 12/12). Reached Tello’s Parking (Address: 2404 Roll Dr, San Diego) ~1:30PM (with couple of breaks in between).
Parking fee $15
This parking lot is just 2mints walk from border.
We tried, if we can get I-94 updated without crossing the border, but we were asked to cross the border and come back.
We crossed the border by walk (need to cross one bridge and two iron revolving gates).
On Mexico side, they asked the reason, I told them, that I came to update I-94. They filled the immigration form and asked us to pay $30 per person.
We paid the fee and once we come out out the Mexico immigration building, we just crossed the road (no PED walk… just like crossing across the road in India style). Cars were moving very slow. So not a problem to cross the road.
We stand in line to enter US side. Not much crowd. We stood in the line for ~15-20mints.
Then as soon as we enter, officer asked the reason. We told, “we need to update the I-94”.
We paid $6 / person for I-94 card fee and got new I-94 card.
Note: Lunch hours for cash counter (~1:45PM to 2:15PM or so)… Luckily when we went, officer was there in cashier counter…
Heard, some people waited for some time, as the cashier went out of lunch.
Then we went to one room (same building) and we hand over our old / new passport and current I-797. Officer didn’t even ask any question.
He entered the details and took bio-metrics (finger prints and photo) and hand over the new I-94 card.
It took ~1hr from/to parking lot (after crossing border).
Not much crowd when we went…
We reached back Bayarea @ ~Midnight same day.
Overall all officers were friendly (both US and Mexico side).
Better take as much documents as possible (even though they might not ask, better to carry) and cash (USD) too.
All the Best !!!
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I recently renewed my wife’s passport and her I94 is expiring by end of this January but she has a valid H4 visa till the end of this year. I am planning to go to the san diego Ysidro border. i do understand she will need her old and new passports, valid visa, U S residence proof (lease/DL).
I don’t have my original I-797 but soft copy is available. is it safe to go to the border for new I-94 considering original I-797 is not available or just file for extension by paying the fees?
Hi,
@Anil_Gupta Am a dependent on H4 Visa and I have an approved i797A with attached i94 till Nov 2021. I travelled to India back in 2019 and my passport was expiring on April 2021. My Electronic i94 is marked as April 2021. Do I still have to go for i94 extension?
Thanks,
Naveen
Yes, you need to get a new i94 after passport renewal.
Hey @Anil_Gupta Thanks for your reply. I mailed our attorney n they said I didn’t have to go cause after entering the US I received my I797A for H4 which has an attached I-94. As this is my latest I-94 which is still Nov 2021 they informed me that I didn’t have to go. Have u heard any situation similar to this?
I assumed that you traveled after getting the i797 (with i94) and hence suggested to get new i94 after passport renewal. It was not clear from your question.
If your most recent i94 was issued by way of i797, then you do not need to get it updated.
Hi Anil,
Thank you for this post. I went to San Ysidro border facility on 3/10/2021 and updated my I94. However, I have to use my new passport number to check the latest I94. In comments, few people have mentioned that their I94 was updated with the old passport number. Should I call CBP office and explain my situation?
Experience:
I traveled back from India in June 20 and immigration official informed me that my passport is expiring next year in July 2021 (h1b visa was valid until Sept 2022) so he had written passport expiry date on immigration stamp. Also, my I94 was updated with Admit Until Date as my passport expiry date. I renewed my passport in Feb 2021. I came across this forum and decided to go to San Ysidro as filing case with USCIS would have taken time. I had paid $6 fees online (new passport number didn’t work so I used old passport number).
Reached San Ysidro at 5 PM on 3/10/2021.
I had thoroughly read all the comments and had also watched videos of border crossing which helped a lot.
I went to PedWest facility first and it was closed. An officer asked me to go to PedEast facility and that’s where a path to Mexico is, so you will have to go there anyway. So, don’t waste your time and just go to PedEast facility. A train station, a small greyhound terminal and McDonald’s are landmarks. Parking is available nearby.
Check with the officer at PedEast facility. Most likely they will ask you to cross the border.
Next to PedEast facility you will see a sign To Mexico ( watch video). You will see people going that way. Continue walking and you will reach to a ternstile with Mexico sign.
I didn’t have to fill any forms at Mexico immigration. As soon as I reached there an officer approached to me and asked whether I have come to update I94. I said yes and showed him my both passports and visa.
He asked me to continue walking so I did. There was an x-ray scanner, I scanned my bag. Officials didn’t give me any form to fill and they didn’t even stamp my passport.
I continued walking and I was in Mexico. As soon as you come out you will see cab drivers approaching. Go past them and take right and start walking on a bridge. Take first right and you will see a large number of people waiting to get into US. Don’t wait in this line because it might take 1-2 hours.
I walked past them and reached at the yellow building. I explained my situation to the CBP officer. He was very helpful and he escorted me into the building and also informed other officers at the counter that we have a case with H1B visa.
I was asked to wait. In 2 minutes, I was called by an officer at the counter.
He asked me a couple of questions. I had already paid I94 fees online. Showed him payment receipt, old and new passports, DL license. He stamped new passport with new date and he issued me a new I94. (Paper copy). He also took my photo and biometrics.
I was asked to go to blue building. Waited in line and was called by an officer. He checked my passports and took a photo. Scanned my bag through an x-ray machine and I came out from the building which was actually PedEast facility.
I kept checking I94 website with the old passport and it was not updated even after a couple of hours. I tried with new passport number and saw that the I94 was updated. Many people in comments have mentioned that their I94 was updated with old passport. I don’t know what’s right. Please reply to this post if you have traveled recently or planning to travel and have any questions.
Thanks a lot to everyone who posted their experiences.
No need to worry. The new passport is also fine. It does not matter as long as you have a valid i94.
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Thanks Anil. Appreciate it.
Hi everyone, I came across this thread last week when I was looking for I94 extension options. I realized last week that my I94 expired in November 2020 along with my old passport, I renewed my passport in Jan 2020, but as all our travel plans in 2020 got cancelled due to COVID I could not travel outside of USA and get a new I94 stamp on my new passport. Then I completely missed the Nov 2020 I94 expiry date and only realized last week when my attorney emailed me about this when they noticed it while filing my H1B extension. My H1B visa is valid until Sep 2021.
After reading some experiences here regarding expired I94 from some users and after consulting my attorneys I decided to travel to San Diego and cross the border on foot and return to get a new I94 issued. My most recent I94 had expired for almost 4 months and my attorneys said that I can leave USA and re-enter with my valid visa & I797 as long as my I94 expiry is under 180 days. So I decided to try this on Monday 03/22.
Below is my experience and it did not go as I had anticipated.
I drove down to the border at around 1:30 pm, I spoke to the CBP officer at the USA side and he asked me to cross the border and get the i-94 extended in the yellow permits building on the other side, I proceeded to the permits building where the officer straight up said NO we cannot do this for you, she said this has been happening a lot and we are now not going to do this and you will have to get this sorted out with USCIS. When I tried to explain to her that I could not travel in 2020 etc; she said that I can cancel your visa right now and send you back to your home country but I will let you pass back into USA and you will have to get this resolved with USCIS.
At the (blue) immigration building the CBP officer took me to the secondary inspection room where the officer was very surprised that the permits office did not fix it for me, he said that this happens very often and the officers in the permit building should have fixed this for you, so he got on the phone with them but the officers in the permits building still refused to do it and would not budge. Finally the secondary inspection officer said you can enter USA on the valid visa but you will need to get the i-94 issue resolved with USCIS.
So although crossing the US Mexico border at San Diego has worked for a few users with an expired I94 and the CBP officers issued them a new I94, this did not work for me and in fact the officers in the permits building (yellow building) threatened to cancel my visa.
So I would advice not to cross the border at San Ysidro if your I94 has expired, there should not be an issue if your I94 is still valid.
Thanks a lot everyone here.
This is a rather long post, but I tried covering certain aspects which I felt were not very clear when I read thru all the earlier posts. I hope others with similar needs will find it helpful.
I am on L1A with visa validity till 2022. My daughter’s passport was expiring in Apr 2021 and I94 along with it. So I was exploring with my friends on I94 extension and some suggested using I539 for extension. But thats a dependent visa extension and can take almost 8-12 months and a lot of money as well. So I started exploring other options. Thats when I came across this forum through a google search. I read all the posts and gathered all the experiences and decided that going to border is the way to go. I read thru experiences at both San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. Both are approx. 10 miles apart with similar experiences. I decided to go to San Ysidro given that its more closer to Tijuana city which means more resources in case of any issues, or atleast that was my thought process.
My daughter’s new passport came in second week of Mar 2021 and since then I was planning to go to San Ysidro border to get this done. I was waiting to see someone in the forum post more recent update since the last update came in late Dec/Early Jan time frame. Then I saw Ankit’s post with experience from 3/10. Living in Southern California, the border is a couple of hours drive and doesnt need too much of planning. So I was planning to go there on a week day after 3/29 before the current I94 for my daughter expires in first week of April. But then on 3/28, Sunday, I have planned for some other event whose tickets were sold out by the time I tried to book them. Then after checking all options at 11AM on 3/28, we decided we will visit the border to get the I94 extended
Preparation
Once we decided to go, I started searching for the documentation needs. Based on various posts in this forum, below are the documents I gathered
- Passports - old and new for my daughter, current passports for both of us
- The current I94s for all three of us - Daughter, Wife and myself
- Printed 3 most recent payslips
- I129 and I787 for my L1A
- DLs for myself and my wife as address proofs
- Recent Electricity and Water bills
- Paid the $6 fee on CBP website and printed the receipt of the same
- Gathered my company ID card and also printed an employment letter from my company. Not sure this was even needed, but based on an earlier post where it was requested by an officer, I took this as well
By the time, I gathered all these documents and verified, it was almost 2PM
Reaching the Destination and Parking
We reached the border by 4PM after a drive thru heavy traffic all along. A few details to note here
- Exit 1A is what needs to be taken for all those who are self driving. This exit is the last exit and is the same exit if you are traveling either by I805 or I5
- As soon as you exit, you can take a right or left on to the road named - Camino De La Plaza. Taking right will take you towards outlet mall and Ped West building
- Taking Left on Camino De La Plaza will take you towards the Ped East building. Parking is available on both sides - you can park in the paid parking lots either side or in the outlet mall.
- As you take right on Camino De La Plaza from exit, the first signal you will see is the Virginia Ave. Take left on Virginia Ave, you will reach Ped West building. As you cross Virgina Ave signal, you will see the outlet mall on the left side and another shopping complex on the right size. A part of the mall building closer to Ped west building is named Plaza Palmera and this is where you will find signs asking not to park there for border crossing purposes. Here you will find the food outlets like Panda Express and few foot ware stores like Foot Locker. You should be able to park in the the larger mall area where you will find the more popular stores like Nike
- All private parking areas on both sides charge $8 on week days and $18 on weekends for a 10 hour duration.
For us, since it was already 4PM on sunday and not knowing how long it will take for the whole process, I parked my car in the paid parking which is on the right side, as soon as you take a right on to Camino De La Plaza to go towards Outlet mall.
The Process
In one of the earlier posts by Ankit, he clearly mentioned to not even bother about the Ped West and proceed towards Ped East. Still knowingly I went to Ped West facility to check if its open. This was just a casual check without much expectancy. As expected, the guard there asked us to go to the other side. Then I followed the signs on the footpath and took the foot over bridge to the Ped East building
A few details to note here
- Ped East is a blue colored modern looking building where all the immigration action takes place. Here you will find the counters similar to airport immigration counters.
- Behind this blue building, adjacent to the entry gate from Mexico side is the small Yellow building. This is supposed to be the old US custom building which has been renovated. The actual I94 extensions are handled here where as the blue building is more like immigration check at airports.
This is based on my experience but I do understand from some other experiences that I94 extension processing also happens in the blue Ped East bldg quite a few times. - The Yellow building is not visible from the US side. Its a small 2-story bldg almost hidden behind the larger Ped East bldg which is the blue bldg.
- As you follow the instructions and get down near to the Ped East bldg, you can see the Grey Hound pick up point, the prominent McDonalds red colored bldg and also the trolley terminal to San Diego
Coming back to the point, as I reached the Ped East entrance, I asked the officer out there about the possibility of getting I94 extended, as is shared by many others, he asked me to cross the border and come back. We just followed others on the pathway to Mexico. After a few yards of walking, we reached the turnstile which lets us into the Mexico immigration building. Here as we entered, there was no one at the check point and we proceeded to the baggage scan and moved out of the building. This is very different than some of the other experiences shared. May be the weekend is a factor.
As we came out of the building, we followed the pathway which will first turn a slight left and then to right as we come on to the road. At this point, on the right hand side, we can see a big taxi stand and a lot of taxi drivers shouting/hawking to get our attention
Once we got onto the road, going left will take us into Tijuana and going right will lead us back to the border. Here we saw a road which is kind of a ramp to go towards the border. We took the pathway next to the ramp which goes besides it. As we walked a few meters, we saw a big queue. We continued walking forward and approached the guards at the border barricade which is where the queue was stopped. We told them about the I94 extension. They checked our passports and informed us to get into the yellow bldg which is right there immediately after the barricade. Pls note this is the first time, the yellow bldg was visible to us. But I have also seen pictures of this bldg near the Ped East bldg referring it as a heritage bldg.
We went into the Yellow bldg. There was just one other family at the counters and no one else waiting. We went straight to the officer at one of the counters and explained our situation. He checked the passports and asked one of the other officers to extend the I94 for my daughter. He just took all our passports and nothing else was asked. He asked us to be seated while he does the process. They were very friendly and courteous all along. It took him 15 mins to scan everything, do the updates and finally gave a paper I94 extending my daughter’s stay equivalent to my stay. In between he asked me to confirm the address and nothing else. He explained everything slowly and gave the passports back with the paper I94 attached to the old passport. He even stamped in the old passport. He asked us to join the queue to go into the blue building for the final immigration check.
As soon as we come out of the yellow building, there was a shaded area where there was queue waiting to get into the blue building. Points to note here
- The officer in yellow bldg never asked me to pay the $6 or even bothered to check if I have already paid. The cash counter was closed. The time was around 5:30PM on sunday evening. Looks like they have a way to verify in the system for the payments
- There are 2 queues - one which forms in Mexico before the border barricade and second to get into the immigration counters in the blue bldg.
- As the ppl move towards immigration counter into the blue bldg, the people at the border barricade waiting in the first queue on the Mexico side are allowed in small batches to join the second queue to enter into the blue bldg.
- The second queue is a shaded area where as the first queue outside the border in Mexico is also shaded but is a pavement and the queue can get extended beyond the shaded area as well
- The yellow bldg is between the blue bldg and the border and is only attended by cases where we need I94 extension or similar purposes. General junta who are most probably frequent travelers between 2 countries directly go to the blue bldg
- There is a Sentri entrance separate in blue bldg which is for those who have the Sentri pass which is a pre-checked daily pass for those who cross border regularly.
Since it was a sunday, there was much less crowd. After waiting in the queue for approx 5-10 mins we were allowed to enter into the blue bldg( the ped East bldg). There are a series 14-16 immigration counters where ppl are split into different counters. The queue moves very fast as most ppl are regulars. I have seen that some of them just gave their cards/DLs and got a photo taken and allowed to go out in a minute. We got our turn in 5-10 mins.
We explained the officer at the counter that we came for I94 extension and its already taken care in the Yellow bldg. Initially she thought she needs to process it but immediately understood that it was already done. She just scanned the visas in each of the passport and took our snaps and allowed us out. We passed the bag scan area and came out of the Ped East bldg.
Based on my discussion with officer in the counter, it looked like some part of the I94 processing is done in the blue bldg as well. I could see that there is an office area behind the immigration counters where we can sit and provide details for any additional processing. quite a few experiences in this thread talk about this. But I didnt need this at all.
Overall from the time we came out of the parking lot till we came back to parking lot after completing the process, it took us less than an hour for the whole process including our visit to Ped West facility which was closed. It was very smooth and the crowd was less, may be because it was a sunday evening. I noticed that my experience is somewhat different from some of the other experiences shared in this forum. This was a last minute decision to get this done and all I needed was a 2 hour prep work with verifying the documentation. It was possible due to our proximity to border. But others experiences may vary and more planning may be needed.
Hope this experience and details help other with their efforts.
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