landed finally!

Canada Immigration Forum (discussion group)


 
       
Subject: landed finally!
  Hey guys - we finally made a smooth landing two days back. We were ready with all our paperwork - they accepted our address for PR card and it will be mailed to us, we already had two copies of the landing goods and the goods to follow for customs officer. He just added the value of all the goods on the list and handed the stamped documents back to us and said "Welcome to Canada".
However, when we left the US nobody took our I94 cards from our PPs. What should I do? Where do I send them? Does anyone know?

[16-12-2006,11:22]
[**.137.207.10]
Dee
(in reply to: landed finally!)
Cool!!! Congratulations to your smooth landing!!!
Now all of you are Canadian PRs! :)
I am very happy for you and your family!

Keep the old I-94s. You don´t need to mail anything anywhere. I-94 is normally taken from you when you exit US, but if they didn´t, then keep it. Try to have other proof that you left the US that day, such as receipts, dated Canadian documents, etc., though I know from many years of experience in the US that you will likely never be asked questions about your departures.

Good Luck!

Uniden

[16-12-2006,11:56]
[**.8.64.44]
Uniden
landed finally! (in reply to: landed finally!)
Thanks Uniden we already like it here!
As for the I94s, I can keep it, but that means they dont have my dep record. So what happens if I want to visit the US on my B1/B2? Can I visit there without my previous dep record surrendered?

[16-12-2006,20:09]
[**.137.207.10]
Dee
(in reply to: landed finally!)
Dee,

I never surrendered mine while departing (nobody ever asked for my I-94), and never had any problems. If you were that concerned, you should have asked the US guys about that.. Honestly, I wouldn´t worry too much.

I am glad you already like Canada. I can´t wait to live there! :)

Good Luck!

Uniden

[16-12-2006,20:59]
[**.8.64.44]
Uniden
(in reply to: landed finally!)
uniden, hopefully your case will finalize soon..
i probably will land next year.
since PPR takes about 3--4 weeks

[17-12-2006,05:51]
[**.87.23.247]
Departure Bay
(in reply to: landed finally!)
About the Departure Card; I knew that Canadian officials are supposed to take it from the Passport (by road). But what Uniden told probably correct, I didn´t give also my I-94 and after 2.5 years, when I applied for TN visa, they didn´t ask me anything about it. I was really nervous about it as I was suuposed to handover that, which at that time I didn´t know.

I heard some guys, to be on safe side, drove to the border and handed over to US/canadian officials, even mail it to US CBP.

[18-12-2006,12:19]
[***.254.208.242]
Shah
Landed finally!! (in reply to: landed finally!)
Thanks Shah - what is a TN visa?
Actually I already have a B1/B2 so was wondering how difficult or easy it is to visit the US. Only thing is the I94 had expired more than six months back so will that matter? And they didnt take it when I left!

[18-12-2006,14:40]
[**.137.207.10]
Dee
(in reply to: landed finally!)
US INS officials actually never takes I-94 unless you go to their post and hand over. When you travel by Air, Airlines officials take it away from the passport and retun to INS if they see it. But if you cross the border by road, Canadian Img. officials are supposed to take it away from the passport, most of the time, they don´t bother for that. However, it is better to tell them to take it and retun to US INS.

Your I-94 expired more than 6 months back, does it mean that you stayed there longer than the period given on the I-94? Hope not, if so, you may have problem in re-entering. If not, then you can simply return it back to the INS by mail, can call them to find the address from INS website. In that way, you can be 100% safe from your side, but as Uniden told, really doesn´t matter a lot.

TN visa is aspecialized work category for the Canadians and Mexicans to work in the USA for some certain professions. For Canadians, it is issued instantly at the borders without any cap like H-1 for 1 year at a time.


[18-12-2006,15:56]
[***.254.208.242]
Shah
(in reply to: landed finally!)
Dee,

Please take my advice and do NOT bother sending anything back to USCIS, because of at least 3 reasons:
1. USCIS does not have any procedures in place to process your I-94 if returned by mail. They only process the ones returned by immigration officials that collected them at the border, or returned by airlines, etc. Just because some people return their I-94 departure forms doesn´t mean that they enter the system.
2. I know your situation from our communications in past postings in this forum, and I want you to meditate on whether you really and honestly want USCIS to know when you exited the US after being out of legal status, in which case you would automatically trigger your 10-year re-entry bar, or if you would rather take a chance in not letting them know when exactly you left the US.
3. I also want you to remember that the same second you return a long-overdue I-94, you will only remind USCIS that you have overstayed your B1/B2 visa and implicitly render your visa as invalid.

I am really concerned about your situation, or.. what you can make out of the halfway decent situation you´re presently in as far as what the US thinks of you. I am, and was in a similar situation and I did my research, listened to what others have to say before I acted just based on my wish to always be correct..

I tell you what you can do: Forget entirely about your I-94, and when you feel ready for an attempt to re-enter the US, just try it out. Go to the border and attempt a 1-day trip on your B1/B2 visa. If you are lucky it will work, if not.. you will know that USCIS´ computer says otherwise.

But do yourself a favor and do not return your I-94. You were illegal in the US when you left. Don´t forcefully bring it to USCIS´ attention!

Best luck to you, Dee!

Uniden

[19-12-2006,03:02]
[**.8.64.44]
Uniden
(in reply to: landed finally!)
If he over stayed there, then there must not be any question of returning by any ways. That will warrant him a bar for sure.


[19-12-2006,10:06]
[***.254.208.242]
Shah
(in reply to: landed finally!)
Can´t agree more!

Uniden

PS - Shah, Dee is a "she" :)

[19-12-2006,11:56]
[**.88.35.54]
Uniden