Travel Warning: Passport Expiration Date May Affect Duration of Authorized Stay (I-94) Upon Entry into the U.S.

The summer has traditionally been a busy traveling season and as the summer start to approach and many of our clients and readers start making international travel plans, we see an increased flow of inquiries and consultations regarding travel and passport expiration dates.  Most often the question is, What should be the duration of the passport for purposes of (re)entering the U.S. after travel abroad?

At Least Six Months Passport Validity Required

As an initial matter, the Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) requires that passports be valid for six months beyond the date the traveler will exit the U.S., however, the U.S. has signed agreements with a number of countries to waive this requirement.  When such an agreement is in place, the passport must be valid for the entire period of the visitor’s intended stay, but the additional six month validity period is not required.   Please read our article on the Six-Month Club for more information.

Passport Expiration Date Before Petition Expiration Date

The question then arises for travelers who are in the U.S. pursuant to a petition with a certain expiration date, such as H-1B, L-1, etc.  For example, H-1B petitions are normally issued with a validity of three (3) years and when an H-1B worker travels to the U.S., he or she would expect that upon entering the U.S., the CBP agent would provide a Form I-94 with expiration date equal to the H-1B expiration date plus ten (10) days.  However, if the passport has an expiration date which is before the H-1B petition expiration date, CBP, by regulation, should issue a Form I-94 card with expiration date equal to the passport expiration.

However, CBP is inconsistent in the application in this rule and they often disregard the earlier passport expiration date.  This, unfortunately, creates confusion among many travelers who seem to get arbitrary Form I-94 expiration dates during different travels.

My I-94 Expiration Date Is The Same as My Passport Expiration and Earlier than My Petition Expiration — What Should I Do?

As discussed above, where the passport expiration date is before the petition (Form I-797) expiration date, CBP should issue Form I-94 with expiration date equal to the passport expiration.  As a result, the foreign national is allowed to remain in the U.S. for a period which is shorter than the period they (and their employer) expected.   In such cases, it is important to understand the options for obtaining a Form I-94 with expiration date equal to the petition expiration.

Option 1 – Form I-94 “Correction” by CBP.  Normally, CBP allows travelers who have been issued erroneous Form I-94 cards to visit a CBP office (normally at international airports) and, after obtaining a new passport, to request that they be issued a corrected I-94 card.    This approach has worked for some of our clients in the past.  However, some CBP offices refuse to issue such corrections because, technically, the  initially issued Form I-94 had the proper expiration date.

Option 2 – Application for Extension of Status.  Alternatively, an application to extend status may be filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) to request that a new Form I-94 card be issued to match the Form I-797 petition expiration date.  This option must be pursued before the Form I-94 expiration date or the extension of status application may be denied.

Note that USCIS does not require that a passport has a validity for the entire period of requested extension of stay — all USCIS needs is a passport valid at the time of filing of the application to extend status.  8 C.F.R. § 214.1(a)(3). The passport does not have to be valid for the entire period of time requested in the extension of status application as the regulations only require that the individual “agree