New I94 by visiting Canada?

[MJ7]

Can anyone please share their experience in getting a new I94 by visiting Canada?

My friends I94 has expired and we are trying to arrange for him to visit Canada and get a new I94, just want to make sure this is possible??

Is it true that if the traveller holds a valid US visa for the next 30 days the US officers dont collect the I94 at departure ?

I would REALLY appreciate feedback if you have gone through this experience recently!!

[MJ7]

Anyone ??

[txh1b]

Your friend is illegal now and harboring/abetting an illegal is a federal crime that you could be charged with. Read about Flagpoling. Immigration is well aware of the principle and will refuse entry and place in expedited removal proceedings.

[MJ7]

Successful I94 Renewal by visiting Canada

Just wanted to post this incase anyone is in a similar situation.
My friends's I94 had expired (the end date was given in line with passport date of expiry and not visa validity) and my friend was out of status for 12 days.
We are situated close to Canada so my friend decided to travel to Canada via the TUNNEL (not the bridge) after a decent amount of research on renewing the I94.
The local CBP officers and USCIS personnel recommended filing the I539, which is a costly and time consuming process and can potentially result in a denial.
Anyway, my friend travelled to Canada stayed overnight (staying overnight is not a must, but my friend wanted to re-enter during normal business hours when most of the experienced officers are likely on duty) and was able to get a new I94 on re-entry.
An important point to note in this process is that the Canadian Immigration officers at the border will NOT collect your I94 (unless your trip is for more than 30 days). So while leaving the US you will have to explain your situation and request the Canadian immigration officer to take your old I94. This took around 5 minutes while entering Canada.
On the way back to the US the US customs and immigration officer asked my friend for his I94 and a few routine questions. My friend explained his situation and was given an orange slip and asked to go into the US Immigration office. The immigration officers questioned him and after taking the facts of the case into account issued a new I94 for a $6 fee. My friend was asked some regular questions nothing out of the ordinary for the most part the officer took time to go through the documents and do the paperwork. He had his I797, recent pay stub and H1B petition papers as supporting documents.
I hope this helps!
PS - In response to txh1B, while I appreciate your effort in replying to my post, it was not of any help at all. When people post questions on this forum they are anxious to know the right way to handle various processes. My friend has by no means done anything illegal and was trying very hard to correct an oversight. I hope you realize that a lot of people go through considerable stress and tension and hence seek help on this forum. We should help them with information IF we have valuable knowledge through experience or otherwise. Telling them that it is illegal and they can be jailed for something that actually has some very promising ways to get through or rectify their problems if of no use. As a senior member you should be more cognizant of this.

[txh1b]

PS - In response to txh1B, while I appreciate your effort in replying to my post, it was not of any help at all. When people post questions on this forum they are anxious to know the right way to handle various processes. My friend has by no means done anything illegal and was trying very hard to correct an oversight. I hope you realize that a lot of people go through considerable stress and tension and hence seek help on this forum. We should help them with information IF we have valuable knowledge through experience or otherwise. Telling them that it is illegal and they can be jailed for something that actually has some very promising ways to get through or rectify their problems if of no use. As a senior member you should be more cognizant of this.

What I mention on the forum is only LEGAL stuff. Read the items in caps. I do not suggest or recommend any ILLEGAL approach. I stand by my previous post. You did not post the entire details of your case in your previous post and harboring illegals even for a day is a federal crime. Go get your facts right than whine on the forum.

[txh1b]

Section of the law for the uninformed that post on the forum...

(a) Criminal penalties
(1)
(A) Any person who—
(i) knowing that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever such person at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other than as designated by the Commissioner, regardless of whether such alien has received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States and regardless of any future official action which may be taken with respect to such alien;
(ii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, transports, or moves or attempts to transport or move such alien within the United States by means of transportation or otherwise, in furtherance of such violation of law;
(iii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;
(iv) encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law; or
(v)
(I) engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or
(II) aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,
shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).
(B) A person who violates subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs—
(i) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i) or (v)(I) or in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in which the offense was done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both;
(ii) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;
(iii) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) during and in relation to which the person causes serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any person, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and
(iv) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) resulting in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under title 18, or both.
(C) It is not a violation of clauses [1] (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (A), or of clause (iv) of subparagraph (A) except where a person encourages or induces an alien to come to or enter the United States, for a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States, or the agents or officers of such denomination or organization, to encourage, invite, call, allow, or enable an alien who is present in the United States to perform the vocation of a minister or missionary for the denomination or organization in the United States as a volunteer who is not compensated as an employee, notwithstanding the provision of room, board, travel, medical assistance, and other basic living expenses, provided the minister or missionary has been a member of the denomination for at least one year.
(2) Any person who, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever, such alien, regardless of any official action which may later be taken with respect to such alien shall, for each alien in respect to whom a violation of this paragraph occurs—
(A) be fined in accordance with title 18 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; or
(B) in the case of—
(i) an offense committed with the intent or with reason to believe that the alien unlawfully brought into the United States will commit an offense against the United States or any State punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year,
(ii) an offense done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, or
(iii) an offense in which the alien is not upon arrival immediately brought and presented to an appropriate immigration officer at a designated port of entry,
be fined under title 18 and shall be imprisoned, in the case of a first or second violation of subparagraph (B)(iii), not more than 10 years, in the case of a first or second violation of subparagraph (B)(i) or (B)(ii), not less than 3 nor more than 10 years, and for any other violation, not less than 5 nor more than 15 years.
(3)
(A) Any person who, during any 12-month period, knowingly hires for employment at least 10 individuals with actual knowledge that the individuals are aliens described in subparagraph (B) shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
(B) An alien described in this subparagraph is an alien who—
(i) is an unauthorized alien (as defined in section 1324a (h)(3) of this title), and
(ii) has been brought into the United States in violation of this subsection.
(4) In the case of a person who has brought aliens into the United States in violation of this subsection, the sentence otherwise provided for may be increased by up to 10 years if—
(A) the offense was part of an ongoing commercial organization or enterprise;
(B) aliens were transported in groups of 10 or more; and
(C)
(i) aliens were transported in a manner that endangered their lives; or
(ii) the aliens presented a life-threatening health risk to people in the United States.
(b) Seizure and forfeiture
(1) In general
Any conveyance, including any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft, that has been or is being used in the commission of a violation of subsection (a) of this section, the gross proceeds of such violation, and any property traceable to such conveyance or proceeds, shall be seized and subject to forfeiture.
(2) Applicable procedures
Seizures and forfeitures under this subsection shall be governed by the provisions of chapter 46 of title 18 relating to civil forfeitures, including section 981(d) of such title, except that such duties as are imposed upon the Secretary of the Treasury under the customs laws described in that section shall be performed by such officers, agents, and other persons as may be designated for that purpose by the Attorney General.
(3) Prima facie evidence in determinations of violations
In determining whether a violation of subsection (a) of this section has occurred, any of the following shall be prima facie evidence that an alien involved in the alleged violation had not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States or that such alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law:
(A) Records of any judicial or administrative proceeding in which that alien’s status was an issue and in which it was determined that the alien had not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States or that such alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law.
(B) Official records of the Service or of the Department of State showing that the alien had not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States or that such alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law.
(C) Testimony, by an immigration officer having personal knowledge of the facts concerning that alien’s status, that the alien had not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States or that such alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law.
(c) Authority to arrest
No officer or person shall have authority to make any arrests for a violation of any provision of this section except officers and employees of the Service designated by the Attorney General, either individually or as a member of a class, and all other officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws.
(d) Admissibility of videotaped witness testimony
Notwithstanding any provision of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the videotaped (or otherwise audiovisually preserved) deposition of a witness to a violation of subsection (a) of this section who has been deported or otherwise expelled from the United States, or is otherwise unable to testify, may be admitted into evidence in an action brought for that violation if the witness was available for cross examination and the deposition otherwise complies with the Federal Rules of Evidence.
(e) Outreach program
The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, as appropriate, shall develop and implement an outreach program to educate the public in the United States and abroad about the penalties for bringing in and harboring aliens in violation of this section.

[MJ7]

Once again, if you read my post to you I did not at any point say that what you were prescribing was Illegal. Your information was in no way USEFUL.
If someone asks for direction on how to overcome a problem from people who have been in a similar situation (as I had in my post), and you reply back describing the repercussions and the worst case scenario it is USELESS!
I understand you are a senior member, but that does not make all your responses meaningful.
Try to put your self in the other persons shoes once in a while to gauge if your response will help them in any way. A lot of the problems people face here can have the worst results, but thats not what they seek more information on. Its how to best overcome these problems in a legal and law abiding way is what would help. You may choose to stick to your useless bit of information, thats your choice. My aim was to let you know that this kind of advice is not helping anyone, and if you could be more cognizant of whether your advice is even going to help??? it would help other readers.

[MJ7]

If I needed this I could just go to the USCIS website or the Immihelp information pages.
I think I cannot stress enough, I was seeking information from people who have had experience in a similar situation.
If you haven't, then Don't Bother. Is that simple enough for you to understand?
I rest my case!

[txh1b]

Once again, if you read my post to you I did not at any point say that what you were prescribing was Illegal. Your information was in no way USEFUL.
If someone asks for direction on how to overcome a problem from people who have been in a similar situation (as I had in my post), and you reply back describing the repercussions and the worst case scenario it is USELESS!
I understand you are a senior member, but that does not make all your responses meaningful.
Try to put your self in the other persons shoes once in a while to gauge if your response will help them in any way. A lot of the problems people face here can have the worst results, but thats not what they seek more information on. Its how to best overcome these problems in a legal and law abiding way is what would help. You may choose to stick to your useless bit of information, thats your choice. My aim was to let you know that this kind of advice is not helping anyone, and if you could be more cognizant of whether your advice is even going to help??? it would help other readers.

I could care less about your opinion. Feel free to rest your baseless argument. You are contradicting your own statement from above. The solution that you have followed is NOT legal. If you want it done right, you need to get a new visa. And before I forget, you don't need to quote an unknown friend as the one in this situation. I greatly doubt that it was YOU! Your categorizing of the procedure that you followed as legal is wrong and misguiding innocent people.

If you need the information, you would go to USCIS website...Right....Go to ICE or USCIS and tell that you resided in the US illegally for 12 days after I-94expired. I don't go by emotions and answers are given as per the law and facts. The fact that I am a senior member or a junior member does not matter.

What you did was ILLEGAL. What part of illegal don't you understand? You WERE and HAVE harbored an illegal by all means.

[MJ7]

Firstly, I was narrating a friend's experience and not mine. So keep your hypothesis to yourself.

Secondly, if the immigration officer issued a new i94 by taking into consideration the facts of the case, I would agree with their verdict rather than your bookish posts from a website.

I am sure you understand laws are written to prevent people from malicious conduct however in case of an oversight any law abiding citizen is given the benefit of doubt. My friend was absolutely honest and presented all the facts to the immigration officer on duty.

I am not recommending people overstay in the US illegally. But in the event they find their i94 is going to expire and have a valid work visa (as was the case with my friend), this is an option they may want to consider. Hope this helps those who find themselves in a similar situation.

Your post describing the worst legal outcome did not help my friend one bit and thats the point I have tried to make to you txh1b, but clearly it is beyond your comprehension!!

[txh1b]

Thanks for trying to educate me and help me comprehend it! Your help was much needed. Thanks and I concede defeat in arguing with you. Hope it helps you live in peace.

Whatever...I got no time to argue with you.

[immihelp]

MJ7,

txh1b is one of the senior most members on immihelp forum and has a lot of experience.

He is doing a great community service by answering the questions for free on this forum for a long time. It has helped thousands of people.

Therefore, stop arguing with him. If you don't like his advice, keep quiet.

[MJ7]

Immihelp,

It hardly matters whether he is a senior member or not, at this point.

His advice to me on the contrary was a disservice and that is a fact. I will not keep quiet and will most certainly provide feedback if the "advice" provided was useless.

I have shared my experience with everyone here and thats all I care about.

[immihelp]

OK, then. Good bye and good luck.