Andy

Hi all,

Could somebody help me understand my options? This Saturday I am going
to Mexico to a conference along with my wife. Both of us have US visa
expired and a status which is current, but differs from the status on
the visa. I am on H1 while my visa was J1; my wife is on F1 while her
visa was J2. We have travel permits I-131 based on pending I-485. A
question: in which status should we enter the country when we return?
Should we give away our I-94 when we leave the country? Other document
to take along?

Thanks a lot for your help
Andy

Andy

I just got a response from my university ISS - we were advised that my
wife (F-1) MUST enter on parole (otherwise her I485 would cancel) and
for me (H-1) the entrance on parole would be a BETTER option as the
officer might question why two ppl from family enter in different
status.

Which brings another question. I understand that my wife has to turn in
her I-94 when she exit the country. Should I also turn in my I-94 on
exit?

Thanks a lot

Andy

Joe Feise

Andy wrote on 1/12/2006 13:35:
    > I just got a response from my university ISS - we were advised that my
    > wife (F-1) MUST enter on parole (otherwise her I485 would cancel) and
    > for me (H-1) the entrance on parole would be a BETTER option as the
    > officer might question why two ppl from family enter in different
    > status.
    >
    > Which brings another question. I understand that my wife has to turn in
    > her I-94 when she exit the country. Should I also turn in my I-94 on
    > exit?

You *always* turn in the I-94 when you leave the country (ok, almost always...
you can keep it for travel less than 30 days to Canada and Mexico.)

-Joe
--
I am not a lawyer.
For reliable advice, consult a competent immigration attorney.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

First thing -- to be pedantic, "enter on parole" is an oxymoron. "Parole" is an alternative to "entry" or "admission." [BTW, this is further muddied since "entry" used to be a defined term in the statute and has now been replaced by "admission."].

From a legal standpoint, person who have been "admitted" are in a better legal position than those who have been "paroled" -- parolees are "arriving aliens" who have much fewer procedural rights.

Assuming you are not in one of the nationalities disqualified from its use and you are still employed solely by the H-1b employer, YOU have the option of either taking advantage of visa revalidation rules for visits to adjoining countries of less than 30 days OR you may elect to use the parole.

As to your wife, the regulations are quite muddy to say the least. They can be read in such a way that if the adjustment applicant obtains advance parole before leaving and is then "inspected" upon return, there is no abandonment. [I got away with this a long time ago with a client for whom I obtained the advanced parole and then blithely continued to travel on his E-2 visa as he always had done. Former INS went along with it but with a warning that I should never even think of advising a client of pulling that stunt -- they realized that I had not even imagined that the client wouldn't even think of still using his visa -- live and learn].

So, what to do? As to your wife, the most conservative way is to use the advance parole. As for you, you have the choice -- the most conservative approach would be to be readmitted under the visa revalidation rules for short visits.

Further caveat -- CBP inspectors confuse easily and they have absolute power.

Good luck.

Andy

Thanks a lot!

Andy

Kevin Keane

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I agree that your wife must enter using Advance Parole. She might get away
with using automatic revalidation, but why risk it?

For you, it's really a toss. You have three options:

- - Keep your I-94 and use automatic revalidation.
- - Surrender your I-94 and apply for a new H-1B.
- - Surrender your I-94 and use Advance Parole. Note that in this case, you
also need to use your Employment Authorization document in order to
continue working.

I doubt that the officer would get too confused in this particular
situation, and it should be easy enough to explain. Although I have seen an
officer (at the Mexican border) try to claim a US passport was a forgery
because it was issued in Guam. He didn't know that Guam was part of the
USA...

As far as surrendering your I-94 goes: that may turn out to be more
difficult than it seems. When crossing into Mexico by land, you will
usually just find a turnstile without anybody to surrender the I-94 to.

Here in San Diego/Tijuana, they told me to go "backwards" into the
immigration building, where the arriving people come out of the building,
to do it.

Andy wrote:

    > I just got a response from my university ISS - we were advised that my
    > wife (F-1) MUST enter on parole (otherwise her I485 would cancel) and
    > for me (H-1) the entrance on parole would be a BETTER option as the
    > officer might question why two ppl from family enter in different
    > status.
    >
    > Which brings another question. I understand that my wife has to turn in
    > her I-94 when she exit the country. Should I also turn in my I-94 on
    > exit?
    >
    > Thanks a lot
    >
    > Andy

- --
Please visit my FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com before asking a question here.
It may answer your question. Remember, I am strictly a layperson without
any legal training. I encourage the reader to seek competent legal counsel
rather than relying on usenet newsgroups.
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