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Leap frog\I-94 not taken back (One and half hour investigation)
Hello,
I travelled to Cananda by road on Sep 30th and reetered US on Oct 01st by road to retain my L1 Status (I applied for H1 CoS in 2008 quota). In the process I was hoping to get a new I-94 but the officers at the PoE said I do not need a new I-94 and let me enter US with the same old I-94.
I tried to explain them the reason for needing a new I-94 but they doesn't seem to know or understand the CoS and leapfrog concept. When I made a second attempt to explain them on why I need new I-94 they became suspicious and started interviewing and investigating my intent. They got their senior officers involved and kept discussing the case for an hour. They also called my manager at my current employer to check if I really work for them on L1. Luckily it went to voice mail of my manager and the officer was kind enough to not leave any voice mail :-)
Finally they concluded that I do not need new I-94 and let me enter on my old I-94 and L1 VISA. They denied to give me a new I-94. They told me that since I went out of USA my H1 COS has become invalid (both for the purposes of reentering US and using it after entering US). They said that my status going forward would be L1 as I am entering US on a L1 and my old I-94is good enough.
Obviously I am now concerned on what status I am in (L1 or H1). Can you help answer following questions?
1) What is my status (L1 or H1)? How can we find it with certaininty?
2) Is it necessary to have a new I-94? or is just exiting and reentering US good enough? The only proof of exit is the entry stamp in passsport by the canada port of entry
3) If a new I-94 is necessary then I can perhaps make one more round trip to canada but based on my experience I am not sure if I will get a new I-94 or not? It looks like getting a new I-94 while entering\exiting canada is a possibility then a certaininty
I travelled to Cananda by road on Sep 30th and reetered US on Oct 01st by road to retain my L1 Status (I applied for H1 CoS in 2008 quota). In the process I was hoping to get a new I-94 but the officers at the PoE said I do not need a new I-94 and let me enter US with the same old I-94.
I tried to explain them the reason for needing a new I-94 but they doesn't seem to know or understand the CoS and leapfrog concept. When I made a second attempt to explain them on why I need new I-94 they became suspicious and started interviewing and investigating my intent. They got their senior officers involved and kept discussing the case for an hour. They also called my manager at my current employer to check if I really work for them on L1. Luckily it went to voice mail of my manager and the officer was kind enough to not leave any voice mail :-)
Finally they concluded that I do not need new I-94 and let me enter on my old I-94 and L1 VISA. They denied to give me a new I-94. They told me that since I went out of USA my H1 COS has become invalid (both for the purposes of reentering US and using it after entering US). They said that my status going forward would be L1 as I am entering US on a L1 and my old I-94is good enough.
Obviously I am now concerned on what status I am in (L1 or H1). Can you help answer following questions?
1) What is my status (L1 or H1)? How can we find it with certaininty?
2) Is it necessary to have a new I-94? or is just exiting and reentering US good enough? The only proof of exit is the entry stamp in passsport by the canada port of entry
3) If a new I-94 is necessary then I can perhaps make one more round trip to canada but based on my experience I am not sure if I will get a new I-94 or not? It looks like getting a new I-94 while entering\exiting canada is a possibility then a certaininty
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