Interesting expierence

[jim]

Went to Atlantic in the Bahamas for a few days to get the i94's stamped this week. Our visa's run out at the end of Oct 09. So we thought we would extend our I94's and see how the business does next year before we attempting a renewal.
Well, going through the Homeland Security at Nassau airport we were informed that our son's (who is 12yrs old) visa had expired back in Aug 09.
SHOCKED to say the least. On inspection the guy was right. We had never noticed that mine the wife and daughter's visas all expire on the same date. But for some reason the Embassy in London back in 2004 decided to give my son 3 months less. I can only assume it was a mistake. Now, I no there will be those of you out there that will say "you should have noticed that" I can't believe we missed it.
Anyway, the guy took us to another room and said if we payed $545.00 then they would waiver the problem and give him a onetime extention on his I94 the same as ours. So we all got them stamped till 09/11. We missed our flight back and had to hang around the airport for 3 hours having already spent 3 there.
Anybody every heard of this waiver thing before? Does this mean that if we decide to extend our i94's beyong 2011 he won't be able to? Anyway I can highlight the issue with the London embassy and get my money back?(yeh right)
Bloody London embassy...confirms to me the reason we left in the first place.
A%$E#Wh#$%S...:mad:

[eirelav]

Hi,

Does your son's new I 94 look any different from the I 94's that the rest of you were given - is it marked in any way that he was issued it under a one time waiver? If not how would they know when you applied in the future to extend them?
Eirelav

[lorraine]

$545.00 mmmmmmmmm wow who had that or where did that go!!! Sounds like total rip off.:mad:

[jim]

$545.00 mmmmmmmmm wow who had that or where did that go!!! Sounds like total rip off.:mad:

Well, the credit card receipt states Homeland Security Nassau Bahamas on it.
Small price to pay considering the alternatives I guess. Thank God it was an option. All sorts of things were going through our minds while we waited for an outcome, I just never heard of it before.
The I94 is the same as ours and expires the same date. Just he was tapping all sorts of information into his computer. Just wondered if this had happened to anyone else or if ya'll had heard of it before.

[chris]

Jim,
Once again, it's another one of those mistakes likely made by a jobsworth that affects you and others and then you, not them, have to pay the price.
I wouldn't blame yourself for not noticing the different date. Why should you expect to see a different date??
That said, it's history now and just look ahead to the future.
I would probably say that what the POE guy said by way of the one-time approval was 'scare tactics' and him showing his 'assumed power' as an ego trip. As said earlier, the I-94 looks no different to yours. In the future I'd say you have the following options:
1. As your E2 passport visa expires in October '09, you'll be landlocked, but legal as you have the new I-94's. If you decide to leave the US to renew your E2 passport visa before those new I-94's expire, I would suggest somewhere else other than London. Barbados, Jamaica and Mexico as they appear just as successful, if not more, for renewals than London. It costs you less and takes less time to boot. We have friends that just came back from Jamaica with 5 years and they were crapping themselves as their biz is hard hit . With a successful renewed E2 visa in your passports, the I-94's will get renewed automatically.
2. If you decide to not go for E2 Visa renewal for the time being, but decide to stay landlocked for a while longer, then you will have to extend status by renewing the I-94's you have just got by applying by mail to USCIS. That would cost you a lot less than what ended up paying out on your trip plus fine. I would recommend doing that 6 months BEFORE your I-94's expire. That way, if what the POE said viz the one time renewal is true, then they would give you a denial for you son, BUT you still have the balance of the I-94 to remain here and plan on getting your E2 passport visa renewed in the normal way, before it expired.
Either way, don't worry about anything now. Start working toward your E2 passport renewal.

[jim]

Jim,
Once again, it's another one of those mistakes likely made by a jobsworth that affects you and others and then you, not them, have to pay the price.
I wouldn't blame yourself for not noticing the different date. Why should you expect to see a different date??
That said, it's history now and just look ahead to the future.
I would probably say that what the POE guy said by way of the one-time approval was 'scare tactics' and him showing his 'assumed power' as an ego trip. As said earlier, the I-94 looks no different to yours. In the future I'd say you have the following options:
1. As your E2 passport visa expires in October '09, you'll be landlocked, but legal as you have the new I-94's. If you decide to leave the US to renew your E2 passport visa before those new I-94's expire, I would suggest somewhere else other than London. Barbados, Jamaica and Mexico as they appear just as successful, if not more, for renewals than London. It costs you less and takes less time to boot. We have friends that just came back from Jamaica with 5 years and they were crapping themselves as their biz is hard hit . With a successful renewed E2 visa in your passports, the I-94's will get renewed automatically.
2. If you decide to not go for E2 Visa renewal for the time being, but decide to stay landlocked for a while longer, then you will have to extend status by renewing the I-94's you have just got by applying by mail to USCIS. That would cost you a lot less than what ended up paying out on your trip plus fine. I would recommend doing that 6 months BEFORE your I-94's expire. That way, if what the POE said viz the one time renewal is true, then they would give you a denial for you son, BUT you still have the balance of the I-94 to remain here and plan on getting your E2 passport visa renewed in the normal way, before it expired.
Either way, don't worry about anything now. Start working toward your E2 passport renewal.


Hey Chris,
thanks for that. You covered all the bases there and it really does put my mind at ease. This forum is fantastic!!

:hug:

[peter gold]

I agree 100% with Chris
My only concern is in the long term if the Consuls in Jamaica etc start to refuse renewal jurisdiction and you are forced to go back to London what they will say and do about the renewals they did not do for you
Suppose only time will tell and meanhwile best advice is ti take route with least risk

[chris]

Peter,
Unless they change the rules, folks on E2 have a clear choice within existing State Department rules of using Embassies/Consulates that have agreed to handle TCN E2 renewals OR return to their home country.
At present, like with most things, peoples experiences at these various offices has differed based simply on what side of the bed the official got out of.
If the various offices then start to move the goalposts (which they are good at) at a later date, then we are simply watching yet another spin on the roulette wheel in the gambling casino (aka Embassy/Consulate).:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D.
I agree completely with InnVic 'staff suggestion' that they should issue scratch off cards with 2 or 5 years renewal or sorry you didn't win and have been denial. At least you know you are well and truly in a lottery!!:p:p:p:p:p