porkedpie

I am on an L1-A visa, On checking my I-94 from most recent entry (in Feb), it shows Admit Until Date : 09/20/2025.
This is sooner than my visa expiry (Sept 2027) or my passport expiry (Jan 2026).

Is this an error? If yes, can I still get it corrected? I am leaving and re-entering the country in September this year anyway, so does it matter since it will be re-entered at that point?

postbox134

Yes it happens all the time, I always check on entry (L1-B).

You can call a CBP deferred inspection site to get it corrected or leave it until you re-enter.

Juzywuz

In that position personally, I'd not bother doing anything and just let the September travel correct it.

Justin

LT1

What date is your PED, rather than the Visa Expiry date? The I-94 expiry date should be the PED.

In my case, my L1A PED is 30NOV2025, but the Visa Expiry is 31OCT2027; and it's the former date on all I-94s.

porkedpie

Thanks. Ah just read up on PED vs Visa expiry, and seen my I-94 does match my PED.
Will do some reading/asking to understand why my visa expiry is 2 years after my PED and what it means.

S Folinsky

Simple math. The reciprocity table for the United Kingdom shows normal L-1 visa validity is 60 months. Initial L petititions are generally for 3 years. Five minus three is two.

Im assuming you are British. If you were French, the numbers would be a little different.

LT1

Indeed it's an oddity of the system. Whilst your visa says it's valid for five years, it's actually until the PED ends, which is three years initially on an L1A.

postbox134

It does mean you can renew your L1 without needing to get a new visa stamp - which saves some effort if travelling after the first 3 years.

S Folinsky

A quirk perhaps, but not an oddity. Remember that the basic process to gain entry/admission to the US is two steps: first is the visa issued by a consulate abroad and second is clearing inspection at a port of entry. Although inherent in the system it is often missed that a visa is permission to be brought to a POE to apply for admission. A visa is NOT permission to enter. (Note that my language addresses entry by sea or air. Permission is not needed to travel to a land POE or on a private conveyance. I found it professionally interesting going through the Cape Vincent NY and Buffalo Niagara Falls Railroad POE. A story for another time).

S Folinsky

Additional comment on dates - the expiry date of the visa does NOT control the length of the time of admission. It controls when the holder must commence their continuous trip to the port of entry. If one remembers that the system was established in the day that most travel was by sea, the sense of this can be seen. It is possible to use an expired visa as long as the country of origin was departed from prior to expiry.