Incorrect USA Exits

[thecoolguysam]

Hello Everyone,

Some people have reported in the forum that their entries to USA were correct however, some of the exits were incorrect in i94 history.(Example: Same day trips were not recorded properly etc)

My questions are:

1. Did anyone get RQ because of it?

2. How did the citizenship process go?

 

[eileenf]

Hello Everyone,

Some people have reported in the forum that their entries to USA were correct however, some of the exits were incorrect in i94 history.(Example: Same day trips were not recorded properly etc)

My questions are:

1. Did anyone get RQ because of it?

2. How did the citizenship process go?

1. It's really hard for people to figure out why they got RQs, especially pre-test RQs, so reports of "I got RQ because..." should be taken with a grain of salt unless that person can quote the CIC officer or their ATIP reports with some authority.
However, no one gets an RQ because of incorrect i94 entries because the citizenship application does not request or require an i94. The only time CIC needs to see an i94 is if they already got an RQ or CIT 0520 or under the advice of the lawyer. An i94 is a response to an RQ, not a cause of an RQ.

2. There are endless variables in citizenship processing, so it's (frankly) a fool's errand to try to boil anecdotal reports down to a single issue and then draw conclusions about how one's own application will be processed.

In general it's better to focus on being honest, straightforward and concise. And trying not to worry about things that you can't control and aren't your responsibility. You are (presumably) not in control the US government or FOIA requests or ICE or Homeland Security, so the CIC won't expect you to be responsible for failures of national governments. The CIC expects you to do your due diligence. Your due diligence is enough.

A lot of applicants try to imagine everything that might go wrong, (often based on limited or misunderstood information or rumours) and then figure out strategies for how to game the system to make sure everything goes easy for them. This is often counter-productive. Making weird, counter-intuitive choices to fix problems that one doesn't yet and may never have adds a lot of unnecessary stress to the process and can even undermine one's integrity in the eyes of the CIC ("What are they trying to game? What are they trying to hide from me?")

My advice: 1. Don't borrow tomorrow's problems for today. 2. The truth is your refuge.

Good luck.

 

[thecoolguysam]

1. It's really hard for people to figure out why they got RQs, especially pre-test RQs, so reports of "I got RQ because..." should be taken with a grain of salt unless that person can quote the CIC officer or their ATIP reports with some authority.
However, no one gets an RQ because of incorrect i94 entries because the citizenship application does not request or require an i94. The only time CIC needs to see an i94 is if they already got an RQ or CIT 0520 or under the advice of the lawyer. An i94 is a response to an RQ, not a cause of an RQ.

2. There are endless variables in citizenship processing, so it's (frankly) a fool's errand to try to boil anecdotal reports down to a single issue and then draw conclusions about how one's own application will be processed.

In general it's better to focus on being honest, straightforward and concise. And trying not to worry about things that you can't control and aren't your responsibility. You are (presumably) not in control the US government or FOIA requests or ICE or Homeland Security, so the CIC won't expect you to be responsible for failures of national governments. The CIC expects you to do your due diligence. Your due diligence is enough.

A lot of applicants try to imagine everything that might go wrong, (often based on limited or misunderstood information or rumours) and then figure out strategies for how to game the system to make sure everything goes easy for them. This is often counter-productive. Making weird, counter-intuitive choices to fix problems that one doesn't yet and may never have adds a lot of unnecessary stress to the process and can even undermine one's integrity in the eyes of the CIC ("What are they trying to game? What are they trying to hide from me?")

My advice: 1. Don't borrow tomorrow's problems for today. 2. The truth is your refuge.

Good luck.

Many thanks to you for the brief explanation.

Is it advised to correct the USA exit records by contacting CBP before submitting the application to CIC? I am asking because, in case if I get RQ, then at that point of time it would be hard to correct those entries.

One of our fellow forum members "bombino" has said the following:

You should worry! If your I-94 was issued on the day you made that day trip, there will be a stamp in your passport. CIC's instructions tell you not to list that trip, but at the interview the officer may (and did in my case) ask you why that trip was not listed. I had two such stamps in my passport. That led to them issuing to me CIC 0520, RQ Lite.

It is absolutely a good idea to list day trips, particularly those where the Americans stamped your passport.


Now, i have 4 stamps and those stamps were for day trip only. Rest 3-4 days trips were taken on multiple entry i94 and travelled by land. In this case, what should I send to CIC to explain it along with the application or during the interview? I don't want to get any RQ.

 

[poison]

Yeah, I am stuck right at that point. I have nothing to hide and never even intended to hide..! Here is my post if you can please see and respond: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/stuck-between-citizenship-test-and-oath-t247388.0.html

 

[eileenf]

Many thanks to you for the brief explanation.

Is it advised to correct the USA exit records by contacting CBP before submitting the application to CIC? I am asking because, in case if I get RQ, then at that point of time it would be hard to correct those entries.

One of our fellow forum members "bombino" has said the following:

You should worry! If your I-94 was issued on the day you made that day trip, there will be a stamp in your passport. CIC's instructions tell you not to list that trip, but at the interview the officer may (and did in my case) ask you why that trip was not listed. I had two such stamps in my passport. That led to them issuing to me CIC 0520, RQ Lite.

It is absolutely a good idea to list day trips, particularly those where the Americans stamped your passport.


Now, i have 4 stamps and those stamps were for day trip only. Rest 3-4 days trips were taken on multiple entry i94 and travelled by land. In this case, what should I send to CIC to explain it along with the application or during the interview? I don't want to get any RQ.

No one wants to get RQ, but that's not the applicant's decision to make.

It's not that big a deal for the officer to ask a question in relation to day trip stamps.
Interview:
Officer: Why didn't you list these trips?
Applicant: They were day trips. The instructions say not to list day trips.

If the applicant wants they could add
Applicant: I have documentation showing that it was a only a day trip (car rental receipts, banking receipts showing purchases in Canada later or earlier that day, i94 report, CBP report, etc). Here you go...

Personally I don't think it would be that easy to get the US CBP to correct a mistake. I think it would be easier to take whatever proof of error that you were planning on showing to the CBP and show it to the CIC officer at the interview instead.

But if you want to try, please let us know how you do it and what the results are.

 

[thecoolguysam]

No one wants to get RQ, but that's not the applicant's decision to make.

It's not that big a deal for the officer to ask a question in relation to day trip stamps.
Interview:
Officer: Why didn't you list these trips?
Applicant: They were day trips. The instructions say not to list day trips.

If the applicant wants they could add
Applicant: I have documentation showing that it was a only a day trip (car rental receipts, banking receipts showing purchases in Canada later or earlier that day, i94 report, CBP report, etc). Here you go...

Personally I don't think it would be that easy to get the US CBP to correct a mistake. I think it would be easier to take whatever proof of error that you were planning on showing to the CBP and show it to the CIC officer at the interview instead.

But if you want to try, please let us know how you do it and what the results are.

;D i am impressed. what I will do is will take all proofs during interview to show that those trips were only day trips and also I will take proof for the overnight that I have done in USA.

 

[links18]

You mean border records aren't always accurate? Whoever would have thunk it?

 

[thecoolguysam]

You mean border records aren't always accurate? Whoever would have thunk it?

i am talking about USA exits not canada or usa arrivals.

 

[eileenf]

i am talking about USA exits not canada or usa arrivals.

I don't understand what the real concern here is. It seems like there's either a concern that's going unsaid or like you're looking for a problem when there isn't a problem.

What kind of USA exits are you referring to? The US doesn't track exits via land borders (I have never checked in with a US border guard on the way out of the USA).

Your Canadian arrival is your USA exit.

 

[thecoolguysam]

I don't understand what the real concern here is. It seems like there's either a concern that's going unsaid or like you're looking for a problem when there isn't a problem.

What kind of USA exits are you referring to? The US doesn't track exits via land borders (I have never checked in with a US border guard on the way out of the USA).

Your Canadian arrival is your USA exit.

your statement is true. there is an automation that when you enter canada or whenever you return your i94, it records your exit from usa. My i94 has correct entry (arrivals) to usa but some incorrect departures(exit). Other users in the forum have also reported such problems.

One of the forum users: latitudeofgratitude also reported the same problem.

Now the problem is that when we match usa arrival (i94) with and return to canada and check canada arrival (cbsa report) it will match however, when you look at i94 departure, it may show different dates but again canada arrival will show correct dates. I am sure that CIC and CBP is aware of this because its not me its most of the people who have i94.

 

[links18]

I don't understand what the real concern here is. It seems like there's either a concern that's going unsaid or like you're looking for a problem when there isn't a problem.

What kind of USA exits are you referring to? The US doesn't track exits via land borders (I have never checked in with a US border guard on the way out of the USA).

Your Canadian arrival is your USA exit.

Occasionally, US CBP does do random exit inspections. If so, and they scan your documents, an exit might look like an entry to someone who doesn't realize they sometimes do exit inspections. I don't think the records differentiate between an entry and an exit.

 

[links18]

i am talking about USA exits not canada or usa arrivals.

Yeah, OK. Border records of any kind might not be totally accurate.

 

[thecoolguysam]

Occasionally, US CBP does do random exit inspections. If so, and they scan your documents, an exit might look like an entry to someone who doesn't realize they sometimes do exit inspections. I don't think the records differentiate between an entry and an exit.

I94 says arrival and departure. That's how its differentiated. Not all exits are inaccurate just few. Other people have also shared their similar story. I know CBP and CBSA should be fully aware of this.

Only way to proove same day trips is to match usa arrival with cbsa entry and if its same date then it means person returned on the same day. In that case usa exits wont matter. I have also heard about entry/exit sharing initiative done between cbsa and cbp and it was implemented in three phases and since then i see my correct exits.

 

[thecoolguysam]

I hope this link says everything about incorrect exits.........

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1674/~/report-departure-if-entering-by-air-and-departing-by-land

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/752/~/i-still-have-my-i-94

when you depart by land and you don't reenter usa before the expiry date mentioned on i94, the departure will not be recorded properly.

in order to show that you entered canada the same day, just match i94 entry date with cbsa entry date and if date matches, it means you entered canada same day.

Also, it is wise to take the printout from these two links to show that the departure is not recorded properly when you leave by land.

 

[links18]

Not everyone has to file an I-94. I have experienced instances where US CBP did an exit inspection, scanned docs, but the CBSA agent on the other side did not scan docs. Thus, and entry to Canada probably looks like an exit. This is why it is shear hubris to rely on border records alone to demonstrate physical presence.