Question Reg I-94 on PR

[Suzdee8197]

Hello Forum Members,

I hope everyone is doing well!

I have a query and would greatly appreciate your advice. Recently, a few family members, friends, and I visited Peace Arch in Vancouver to show them the border between the USA and Canada. Unfortunately, we got a bit lost and accidentally ended up in the line for U.S. immigration. Realizing our mistake, we decided to reroute back to Canada as we didn't have our passports with us. In hindsight, we should have been more cautious and careful, and I fully acknowledge that it was an error on our part to proceed in the line, thinking we could turn around further ahead.

For context, we do have valid U.S. tourist visas, but since we didn't have them with us, we had to reroute. When we re-entered Canada, the border officer was able to validate our credentials, and after we explained and apologized for the situation, he allowed us to continue without any issues.

Now, several months after the incident, I noticed something concerning my I-94 record. It lists two departures without any subsequent arrivals, one of which seems to be related to the Peace Arch incident. Please note that we never actually entered the USA that day; we simply rerouted and returned to Canada.

I have visited the USA since then without any problems. However, I am concerned about whether this incident could have any implications on my PR application. Specifically, I am unsure whether this could be considered a rejection of entry into the USA. I understand that in the past, flagpoling could sometimes be considered a rejection, so I would like to know if I need to check "yes" for the question regarding being rejected entry into a country on my PR application and provide an explanation letter for this situation.

@scylla @Naturgrl @canuck78, I would be very grateful for any insights or suggestions you might have on this matter. Thank you so much in advance for your help!

 

[forevermore76]

Hello Forum Members,

I hope everyone is doing well!

I have a query and would greatly appreciate your advice. Recently, a few family members, friends, and I visited Peace Arch in Vancouver to show them the border between the USA and Canada. Unfortunately, we got a bit lost and accidentally ended up in the line for U.S. immigration. Realizing our mistake, we decided to reroute back to Canada as we didn't have our passports with us. In hindsight, we should have been more cautious and careful, and I fully acknowledge that it was an error on our part to proceed in the line, thinking we could turn around further ahead.

For context, we do have valid U.S. tourist visas, but since we didn't have them with us, we had to reroute. When we re-entered Canada, the border officer was able to validate our credentials, and after we explained and apologized for the situation, he allowed us to continue without any issues.

Now, several months after the incident, I noticed something concerning my I-94 record. It lists two departures without any subsequent arrivals, one of which seems to be related to the Peace Arch incident. Please note that we never actually entered the USA that day; we simply rerouted and returned to Canada.

I have visited the USA since then without any problems. However, I am concerned about whether this incident could have any implications on my PR application. Specifically, I am unsure whether this could be considered a rejection of entry into the USA. I understand that in the past, flagpoling could sometimes be considered a rejection, so I would like to know if I need to check "yes" for the question regarding being rejected entry into a country on my PR application and provide an explanation letter for this situation.

@scylla @Naturgrl @canuck78, I would be very grateful for any insights or suggestions you might have on this matter. Thank you so much in advance for your help!

It's called voluntary return, not to be confused with voluntary departure. It's an administrative tool available for CBP to allow aliens to return. You never really entered United States but presented yourself at a POE and were allowed to turn back. The I-94 will show an inbound entry every time you present or plan on presenting yourself at a US POE. Plan on presenting means you book a flight to or through US. In such situations, your I-94 shows inbound and won't show outbound if you never really flew or in your case returned through land border crossing.

In a nutshell, you should mention it as a day trip completed on same calendar day. And you answer ''no'' to rejection, because, you weren't refused entry but allowed to voluntarily return.

 

[Suzdee8197]

It's called voluntary return, not to be confused with voluntary departure. It's an administrative tool available for CBP to allow aliens to return. You never really entered United States but presented yourself at a POE and were allowed to turn back. The I-94 will show an inbound entry every time you present or plan on presenting yourself at a US POE. Plan on presenting means you book a flight to or through US. In such situations, your I-94 shows inbound and won't show outbound if you never really flew or in your case returned through land border crossing.

In a nutshell, you should mention it as a day trip completed on same calendar day. And you answer ''no'' to rejection, because, you weren't refused entry but allowed to voluntarily return.

Thank you so much for the detailed response. Appreciate it !!