U.S Customs and Border Crossing

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Tom,

Thanks for trying and sending that 'link' but the I-94 doesn't appear to on the drop down list and I have checked several time to save my  :-[
 
Sorry Mick, I should have checked the list. You could try sending them an email and letting them know why you'd like to get a couple of I-94's by mail.
 
Tom,

In view of the limited time before our return flight I think we will travel to Manchester Airport even earlier than is required and ask at some of the airline desks who travel to the US if they could give me a couple.  :)

Thanks for trying and fingers crossed for a problem free border crossing.
 
Worst case Mick, you complete the forms at the border.
 
Mick,

I just tried calling the "local" San Francisco office to see if there was a way for you to download the form, but they don't publish a phone number. Looks like you have to visit in person. Since they're 100 miles from here, I'm afraid I won't be visiting in person  :(
 
Tom,
Thank you for your efforts, I shall try telephoning Manchester Airport and 'hope' that the person I speak to can direct me to one of the airlines who carry the forums, as Canadian Affair operate flights only to Canada they have no reason to carry I-94's, I just hoped that as we were flying via them that they would have made a 'little' effort and got off their backsides to put me in touch or arrange a 'contact' to send me a couple.

The trouble is nowadays finding that 'someone' who is prepared to do that little something which is beyond their 'REMIT'
 
We live in a border town and were fretting over the fact that we need to renew our passports. Problem is - they TAKE your passport away while they are creating a new one - usually a ten day to two week process. Hence we THOUGHT we'd be unable to cross the border for a couple of weeks while we waited. We discovered that the US Border service here will take a photocopy of your passport, stamp it "officially a true copy" and let you use that photocopy to enter the US without your actual passport. The Canadian Border services stamp it also, so you can use it to get back into the country. We discovered this through friends; when I asked the official passport office - they said that NOTHING like that existed. Go figure. We can only use it at our two local crossings but at least it allows us to go back and forth for gas and groceries. Not sure if this is true of other border crossings but might be worth looking into for other Canadian border town residents.
 
Most travelers will likely know this anyway but the I-94 form has been obsolete for a few years now, replaced by electronic pre-registering of one's identity and status.  Entering and leaving are recorded totally electronically.
 
the I-94 form has been obsolete for a few years now,

Correct, but one thing that I'm not up to date on (since I haven't taken an international flight in 5 years) ...

In the paper I-94 days, the airlines removed the stapled I-94 form from your passport as you checked in for your departing flight. They were also responsible for forwarding the form to the then-INS. But the traveller didn't go through the equivalent of 'Passport Control' that you have at UK airports. So, the question is ...

who enters the electronic record of departure from the USA? Is this done by the airline check-in clerk, or have they implemented a form of Passport Control for departing international passengers?

I read something about the electronic records in my earlier research for other topics, but I don't recall seeing the answer to this question.
 
Tom said:
Correct Jackie, but one thing that I'm not up to date on (since I haven't taken an international flight in 5 years) ...

In the paper I-94 days, the airlines removed the stapled form from your passport as you checked in for your departing flight. They were also responsible for forwarding the form to the then-INS. But the traveller didn't go through the equivalent of 'Passport Control' that you have at UK airports. So, the question is ...

who enters the electronic record of departure from the USA? Is this done by the airline check-in clerk, or have they implemented a form of Passport Control for departing international passengers?

I read something about the electronic records in my earlier research for other topics, but I don't recall seeing the answer to this question.

On arrival we are photographed and finger-printed and that data is electronically recorded along with passport and visa details by border control.  That is checked against our visas or for anyone without a visa, the ESTA system.  On leaving the US passports and visas are again scanned into the system at the airline check-in/departure desk and presumably again through the final security examination. 

That replaces the old requirement for the collection of I-94 stubs and submitting them to the centre in Bowling Green, KY.

 
Tom said:
Correct Jackie, but one thing that I'm not up to date on (since I haven't taken an international flight in 5 years) ...

In the paper I-94 days, the airlines removed the stapled form from your passport as you checked in for your departing flight. They were also responsible for forwarding the form to the then-INS. But the traveller didn't go through the equivalent of 'Passport Control' that you have at UK airports. So, the question is ...

who enters the electronic record of departure from the USA? Is this done by the airline check-in clerk, or have they implemented a form of Passport Control for departing international passengers?

I read something about the electronic records in my earlier research for other topics, but I don't recall seeing the answer to this question.
I travel internationally on a regular basis (leaving again tomorrow) and I've been under the impression that the airlines enter my passport info, because they always request it well ahead of check-in. I ran into a glitch about a year ago when I was flying out of Miami, when the people at the boarding gate said they didn't have my passport info. They were able to check the no-fly list and enter my passport info while I waited at the gate.

Kev

Kev 
 
Kevin Means said:
I travel internationally on a regular basis (leaving again tomorrow) and I've been under the impression that the airlines enter my passport info, because they always request it well ahead of check-in. I ran into a glitch about a year ago when I was flying out of Miami, when the people at the boarding gate said they didn't have my passport info. They were able to check the no-fly list and enter my passport info while I waited at the gate.

Kev

Kev

I fly just one return trip a year now as I've stopped RVing and become a longer-term snowbird.  I agree with what you say.  When booking the flight I am asked to enter details on BA's website.  Whether that is subsequently input manually by a BA operative into the US security system I have no idea but I assumed it would have been an automatic electronic transfer.  If it's done manually there would be a greater chance of errors and omissions.  Thus far no problems with either - I didn't ought to tempt fate!
 
Aye Kevin, things changed significantly after 9/11. I travelled internationally extensively for many years with minimal formalities. I recall when I used to fly into the US as a UK resident in the 70's, US customs/immigration agents used to each have a 'black book' approx 12" thick, and they'd manually check to see if the arriving 'foreign' traveller's name &/or passport number was listed  ;D
 
macmac said:
Most travelers will likely know this anyway but the I-94 form has been obsolete for a few years now, replaced by electronic pre-registering of one's identity and status.  Entering and leaving are recorded totally electronically.
Despite the fact that travellers can use the Visa Waiver (ESTA) or a Visa, you still get the blue form to fill in and hand over to the customs guy as you leave the airport.  We have had to do this since we started coming here in 2006.

And yes you do need to give your passport number to the airline, in fact I don't think you can check in online now with BA anyhow unless you have provided your passport info.
 
jackiemac said:
Despite the fact that travellers can use the Visa Waiver (ESTA) or a Visa, you still get the blue form to fill in and hand over to the customs guy as you leave the airport.  We have had to do this since we started coming here in 2006.

And yes you do need to give your passport number to the airline, in fact I don't think you can check in online now with BA anyhow unless you have provided your passport info.

The blue one is a customs declaration.  The white two-piece I-94 used to carry details of one's permission to stay, now recorded wholly electronically.  The customs declaration is for a different purpose.
 
MarinoCosta said:
yes very useful information, thanks. I am also going to the USA soon. Now I am on a stage of making documents. I do not know why but I have two denial, as they said there are some mistakes in documents during filling in. Now I am looking for the company who would help me with this issue. I've found this one http://usimmigrationforms.com/ and I heard good feedbacks about them. Have somebody known them?

Are you applying for a B1/B2 visa?  As a visitor that's what you should be doing but if you want to immigrate to the USA these forum boards are not really the right place for such detailed and important information.
 
macmac said:
Are you applying for a B1/B2 visa?  As a visitor that's what you should be doing but if you want to immigrate to the USA these forum boards are not really the right place for such detailed and important information.

True, although some of us have been through the process multiple times, both for ourselves and while sponsoring others, with and without the help of an immigration lawyer. We usually point folks in the right direction to get info from official sources.
 
Tom said:
True, although some of us have been through the process multiple times, both for ourselves and while sponsoring others, with and without the help of an immigration lawyer. We usually point folks in the right direction to get info from official sources.

It was the final part of your posting I had in mind. 
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
131,753
Posts
1,384,359
Members
137,524
Latest member
freetoroam
Back
Top Bottom