Nicholasbec

Hi,

I am in the process of applying for an L1 Visa. My passport expires in just over a year and I am getting conflicting information about how this affects my visa.

My question is, will I be able to continue to work in the US if I get a new UK passport given my visa will be in my old passport? I have been told my I-94 expiry will be in line with my current passport expiry date (mid 2024) whilst the actual visa will be valid until late 2027 meaning I will need to leave the US next year when my passport expires. Can anyone confirm this or clarify if the I-94 date needs to be extended and if so, is this a simple process?

Thanks!

S Folinsky

If an attorney is involved, you may want to direct your questions to her.

karenkaren1

yes you will but you will need to carry 2 passports each time you land into the USA for the 5 years that the visa is valid for. I was carrying 8 passports on vacation for a few years after my family of 4 got new passports. I don't recall us doing anything re I-94 dates but best to check with your immigration lawyer

Pulaski

Yes. It is quite common to have a visa in an expired passport stapled to the back of a currently-valid passport.
Sorry, I have no experience of the I94 matter, nor recall reading about it, but given that your situation is far from unusual I know that fixing it won't be a big deal. .... As our esteemed friend Mr Folinsky suggested, you should ask your lawyer how the "problem" will be fixed.

destone

When my I-94 was expiring, I did a same-day round trip Los Angeles – Cabo. I wouldn’t not leave it to chance.

karenkaren1

I just googled 'extending i94 when renewing passport', quite a lot of info came up. this may help....
https://redbus2us.com/i94-extension-...ss-cbp-vs-poe/

Nicholasbec

Thanks everyone for the replies, it seems there is more than one way to tackle this. The simplest way it seems, is to renew the passport prior to applying but due to passport strikes here at the moment, it's taking up to 10 weeks to get a new passport which will likely delay my actual application until I have the new one. I may just need to bite the bullet and deal with the consequences once I am (hopefully) there.

Thanks everyone

newacct

If you get a new passport before entering the US, you will enter with the new passport and the visa in the old passport, and your admission period will not be limited by the old passport's expiration.

If you enter the US before getting a new passport, your I-94 expiration will be limited to your old passport's expiration. You cannot stay after your I-94 expires, unless you have a pending extension of stay application. Before your I-94 expires, you will need to either: 1) leave the US and re-enter on a new passport (again, you can enter on the new passport in combination with the visa in the old passport), or 2) have your company file I-129 for your extension of stay.

tht

It was 12 years ago, but when I was going to get my L1a visa in the London embassy I did a same day renewal at Victoria passport office for one of my UK passports so I would avoid this issue. You can renew a passport at anytime, it does not have to be close to expiry..

Nicholasbec

I just received an email response from Orlando CBP around the I-94/I-797. Here is what they said...."The purpose of the I-94 located at the bottom of the I-797 is for folks who are not necessarily departing the US while their status in the US is valid. For example, A worker updates his/her passport while in the US would not have to depart to get an I-94 updated since we already provided one as part of the I-797.



Regards,

Orlando I-94 Team"

So this confirms that I can use the I-94 date on the I-797 and disregard the I-94 date when I enter the US, as long as I don't plan to leave the US before renewing my UK passport.

Thanks

newacct

No. This is talking about if you do an Extension of Stay or Change of Status inside the US, and the approval of that would be an I-797A, which means it comes with a new I-94. That I-94 would superseded any previous I-94s.

You did not do Extension of Stay or Change of Status inside the US (since you are not in the US). You do not have an I-94 on an I-797A. You just have an L1 petition approval, on an I-797B, which has no I-94.

Calli

We had the same issue. My husband and daughter got new passports instead of having the future faff of carrying around two passports. It wasn’t that difficult to change the passport numbers on the application and we send both to the embassy just in case.

Nicholasbec

Thanks, issue is the passport office is on strike for 5 weeks plus I don't know how long it will take once they return to work so I don't want to be without a passport if it goes to interview stage. I think I will just need to apply now and deal with it as and when I get there!

Calli

ahhh what a nuisance. We were always worrying about interviews etc but it took way longer than we thought because we got an RFE. In the end we didn’t have an interview at all they just stamped the visas in.

Nicholasbec

Well that would be ideal, we are in Glasgow so if we were to bypass the interview in London that would save time and effort. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!! Thanks