Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

Hi guys,

My current I94 (US visa waiver) is expiring in my passport in a couple of weeks.

I need to surrender it prior to it's expiry at a US Land Border.

Do you know of any alternatives for officially surrendering it without having to go to the border post?

The trip to the US is costly and time-consuming for us (BC Ferries shake us down for almost $200 every time we leave Vancouver Island).

I thought i'd check if anyone had any ideas!

Cheers,

Sarah

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

You can mail it - https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...l-have-my-i-94

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

Right, mailing is probably your only other option.

I was in the same position a little while ago. Ended up flying back to the UK at short notice...surrendered my I94 upon re-entry to Canada. That doesn't help you now though, more an FYI for future.

2 weeks...you're cutting it close!

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

I forgot once, still had the expired one in my passport when I went to the States the next time. Luckily I got a sympathetic border guard and he gave me a fairly gentle telling off and pointed out that he could refuse entry based on that.

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

throw it in the bin, we've never had an issue when we haven't handed it in and this has happened more than once.

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

One of my friends was grilled for 2 hours at JFK for doing this.

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

I suppose we are lucky that we only cross in the prairies, but as I've said I have thrown many away. The one we have in our passports at the moment will get thrown also.

The only time I was questioned was in Minneapolis because I had not completed my online ESTA.

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

Until the day you end up at the US side and they refuse you entry :lol:
I know the card is valid for 90 days but if you know you wont be going back to the US after a trip is it so hard to hand it over to CBSA when you cross back into Canada?

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

Thats what we did last visit. To be honest the whole thing is a pain in the arse, i mean you may not know whether you will or won't travel over the border again within the timeframe and if you don't you end up with this panic about having the bloody card and being grilled like a friggin criminal by some over zealous border agent as if you really have committed a crime.

Friends of ours were really put through it when one of them had not returned the card and left it in her passport, she said it made her feel like some lowlife criminal and spoiled their trip completely.

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

I agree. The last time my Grandfather came from UK to visit us in Canada he got a visa for trips into the US while he was there. The agent issuing the visa on the US side stressed that he not forget to surrender it at the airport in Toronto when he returned to UK because if they are not turned in, US immigration has to act on premise that you are still in the US after expiry and have to attempt to track you down. That was before 9/11. When you look at it that way, it's understandable.

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

send it back before it runs out!!!!!
I had an accident and forgot about the damn thing in my passport

,it was a month out of date when i next crossed the border and went in to get a new one..
NOT an experience i want to have again ,was threatened with removal back to uk not canada as that is home as was pointed out to me by the border agent with her hand on her gun..
and believe me when i tell you i know of someone who was stopped in the usa (truck) whos card had ran out (just),as run had taken longer than planned ...he was sent back to UK...then had to fly back to Canada ,he was banned from USA for iirc 2yrs..
The U S takes the 194 very seriously.
jimmy.

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

The things people subject themselves to to avoid $6

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

I really would not recommend doing that.

It is a pain to have the responsibility of surrendering the I94, especially when you can go through the whole process without anyone mentioning the importance of doing so. I don't remember ever being told anything like that during my 4 or 5 cross-border expeditions, I only knew because I'd seen the info on BE forums.

Last time I surrendered the I94 on the way back in, the border guard accidentally handed it back to me with the receipts etc I'd given him. Luckily I noticed before I drove past the offices & stopped there to hand it in. What a plonker!!!

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

I think its more of a case of the things some people forget or find hard to do or cant be arsed to do.
Sure to some its a PITA but its their country and their rules. Its not hard to return an I94 its just that people forget to do it or cant be arsed to do it as its so hard to pop it in an envelope and return it or hand it into a CBSA officer. Even google searches of questions like how do I return an I94 waiver
form or what address is too hard for some.

Re: Alternatives to Surrendering an I94 at US Land Border Post
 

A CBP inspector told me at YYC they don't get too worked up about them for people who reside in Canada, I think because they can get more information about people who live in Canada from CBSA if they have to.

I usually have the problem the other way around, some check-in agent who takes the thing out of your passport without asking. A lot of I-94s are multiple entry and you're not supposed to surrender them until you leave permanently. Then you get a ticking off from CBP for wasting their time reissuing it.