Returning your I-94 -- Atty. Michael Templo
Atty. Michael Templo | 10/03/2008 11:12 PM
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When traveling to the United States on a non immigrant visa such as a tourist visa, you will be interviewed by an Immigration Officer at the port-of-entry, or the airport in the United States where you first land.
Usually before you land, the flight attendants will hand out a long narrow arrival/departure form which you will have to fill out with your basic information such as name, date of birth, country of citizenship, etc.
As you disembark from the plane and before you can claim your luggage, you will have to pass thru US immigration authorities where you will have to surrender your passport and the arrival/departure record to the Immigration Officer.
The Officer will then ask you questions about the purpose of your trip to the United States and the length of your stay. Based on your interview with the Officer and what type of visa you are using, he will determine how long you will stay. He will then indicate your duration of stay by stamping the date on a portion of the arrival/departure record and will tear that portion and staple it onto your passport.
This portion of the arrival/departure form is called Form I-94.
When travelers depart from the United States, airport authorities or airline personnel sometimes fail to get the I-94 cards from the travelers. However, when you exit the United States, it is your responsibility to return the I-94 card, which enables the Department of Homeland Security to record your timely departure.
Problems arise when traveling back to the United States with the old I-94 card still attached to your passport. Immigration authorities may conclude that on your last trip, you might have remained in the United States beyond your authorized stay. If you are caught in a situation like this, your visa may be cancelled or you might be ordered to fly back to your port-of-origin.
These are extreme penalties for a small oversight that you could have avoided if you had just known that the I-94 card must be returned before you leave the United States.
If you are now currently outside the United States and you notice that you still have your I-94 card stapled on your passport, you must take steps to notify the Department of Homeland Security that you have already left the United States by mailing the I-94 card to the following address:
ACS –INS SBU
P.O. BOX 7125
LONDON, KY 40742-7125
To help the Department of Homeland Security validate and properly record your departure from the United States, you must include a statement in English as to why you were not able to return the I-94 card and also include corroborating documentary evidence such as:
(1) your original boarding passes used to depart in the United States that indicates the flight number, seat number, your name, and date of departure;
(2) photocopies of all pages of your passport and highlight the entry or departure stamps after you left the US;
(3) photocopies of other supporting evidence to indicate you were in another country after departing the United States such as dated pay slips or vouchers from your employer, dated bank records showing transaction, school records showing attendance at a school outside the United States, dated credit card receipts, showing your name, but, without showing your credit card number, for purchases made after you left the United States.
To further protect yourself and your US Immigration record, you must make copies of all the documents that you mail to them. You must assume that the DHS will not mail back the original documents you submit to them.
Also, do not try to mail the above documents to any United States Consulate or Embassy, or to any other Immigration Office in the United States. The address listed above is the only place where the DHS will process returned I-94 cards.
Atty. Michael Templo is an admitted attorney in New York, USA and is a partner at Templo & Templo with offices in New York, USA and Makati City, Philippines. Atty. Templo specializes in US Immigration matters. The discussion above is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional. For your comments and questions, Atty. Templo can be reached at mdt@templolaw.com or log on to www.templolaw.com.