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  General Information Issues at U.S. Port of Entry Visa Waiver Program Non-Immigrant Visas Immigrant Visas

ISSUES AT U.S. PORTS OF ENTRY

  • No one collected my I-94 card when I departed the United States
  • Difference between visa validity and authorized length of stay
  • My name mistakenly seems to be on a lookout list or watchlist of some sort and I have trouble at the port of entry when I travel to the U.S.
  • Reporting complaints about ports of entry

 

No one collected my I-94 card when I departed the United States

If you returned home with your Department of Homeland Security Form I-94 (white) or Form I-94W (green) Departure Record in your passport, it means that your departure was not recorded properly. It is your responsibility to correct this record. You must provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sufficient information so we can record your timely departure from the United States. This will close out your earlier record of arrival to this country.

If you do not validate a timely departure from the United States, or, if you cannot reasonably prove otherwise when you apply for admission to the U.S. in the future, CBP may conclude you remained in the U.S. beyond your authorized stay. If this happens, the next time you apply to enter the U.S. your visa may be subject to cancellation or you may be returned immediately to your foreign point of origin.

In particular, visitors who remain beyond their permitted stay in the United States under the Visa Waiver Program cannot reenter the U.S. in the future without obtaining a visa from a U.S. Consulate. If this occurs and you arrive at a U.S. port-of-entry seeking admission under the Visa Waiver Program without a visa, CBP Officers may order your immediate return to a foreign point of origin.

If you failed to turn in your I-94 Departure Record, please send it, along with any documentation that proves you left the United States to:

ACS - CBP SBU, 1084 South Laurel Road, London, KY 40744  USA

Do not mail your Form I-94 Departure Record or supporting information to any U.S. Consulate or Embassy, to any other CBP office in the United States, or to any address other than the one above. Only at this location are we able to make the necessary corrections to CBP records to prevent inconvenience to you in the future.

To validate departure, CBP will consider a variety of information, including but not limited to:

  • Original boarding passes you used to depart the United States;
  • Photocopies of entry or departure stamps in your passport indicating entry to another country after you departed the United States (you should copy all passport pages that are not completely blank, and include the biographical page containing your photograph); and
  • Photocopies of other supporting evidence, such as:
    • Dated pay slips or vouchers from your employer to indicate you worked in another country after you departed the United States,
    • Dated bank records showing transactions to indicate you were in another country after you left the United States,
    • School records showing attendance at a school outside the United States to indicate you were in another country after you left the United States, and
    • Dated credit card receipts, showing your name, but, the credit card number deleted, for purchases made after you left the United States to indicate you were in another country after leaving the United States.
    • To assist us in understanding the situation and correct your records quickly, please include an explanation letter in English. Your statement will not be acceptable without supporting evidence such as noted above. You must mail legible copies or original materials where possible. If you send original materials, you should retain a copy. CBP cannot return original materials after processing.

We strongly urge you to keep a copy of what you send to ACS-CBP and carry it with you the next time you come to the United States in case the CBP officer has any questions about your eligibility to enter.

If taking short trips (30 days or less) to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean Islands during the course of your visit to the U.S., hold onto your I-94 or I-94 (W). It should only be turned in when you leave the U.S. to return home.

Delays beyond the traveler's control, such as cancelled or delayed flights, medical emergencies requiring a doctor's care, etc. are not considered unauthorized overstays, however, you will need to bring proof of the cause of your overstay next time you travel to the U.S. in order for it to be forgiven. For airline delays, ask the airline for a letter affirming the delay or a copy of your cancelled boarding pass.

Difference between visa validity and authorized length of stay

A visa is a travel document.  The visa expiration date is the date by which the bearer must ENTER the United States and does not control the date of departure or length of stay in the U.S.  The length of stay and date of departure are determined by the Immigration Officer at the time of arrival in the United States.  A departure date may be greater than the visa expiration date.  At the time of entry, the Immigration Officer will set a departure date.  This date will be recorded on the Form I-94 Departure Card and passport entry stamp.

For additional information on types of visas and permitted lengths of stay by visa type, please review the information provided on our website, or by USCIS.  http://singapore.usembassy.gov   and www.uscis.gov

My name mistakenly seems to be on a lookout list or watch list and I have trouble at the port of entry when I travel to the U.S.

On occasion, we receive complaints from foreign travelers about their treatment at ports of entry as the result of lookouts, some of which also generate Transportation Security Administration (TSA) "no fly" alerts.  Passengers may be delayed or denied boarding, miss flights, be sent to secondary screening, or even detained until these are resolved.  With the frequency of name duplication, the problem is likely to continue.  The Embassy and the Department of State have neither the authority nor the resources to intervene.  However, the Department of Homeland Security has a redress process for reviewing the request of an individual traveler to be clearly identified as not the target of the lookout.  Travelers can request an audit of their case by completing and signing the redress request form located at http://www.dhs.gov/trip and following the website instructions for submitting it to DHS. 

I would like to report a negative experience at a U.S. port of entry.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has authority over the ports of entry in the United States.  CBP strives to provide professional and courteous treatment to all people entering the United States.  If you have a complaint regarding your treatment by a CBP official, please direct your comments in writing to:

US Customs and Border Protection
Assistant Commissioner, OFO
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Room 5.5C
Washington, DC  20029

You may also fax your comments to: 202-344-2791 or email them to: www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/questions

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