MrSunny

Hello Friends, I finally got my new passport on Wednesday(one day after expiry). I flew to San Diego the same evening, tried my luck at the CBP office in San Diego International terminal but no success. The officer at the door gave me a reference of another officer who is in the deferred processing center in the downtown San Diego(Ash and India St intersection) and told me that he will help us. The next day morning I went to the referred CBP office and explained him about the situation but history repeated. The officer said that they dont issue a new I-94 unless they make a mistake and in my case it's not as I was traveling with a passport that has short validity and that it is my responsibility to have a valid one(who knew). Although the officer mentioned an interesting fact that I could have extended my stay by filing a form I-539( Application to extend status/Change of status) if I had a valid passport. I always though I would need to do that only for my wife who is on H-4 to extend her status. I then asked the officer if I would get one if I go to the border, he said they may or may not issue an I-94 but given the situation of having a valid I-797 and valid H-1B they should issue one he added. I then went to the Tijuana Mexican border parked my car on the US side crossed the bridge by foot to the Mexican Side and then took a U turn right into the US Side. Waited in the line for permits for 1.5hrs went inside the officer seemed to be very strict. He threw the Old I-94's from both our passports cross checked the Visa stamps vs I-797 for dates and names and then issued us new I-94s. The funny thing is he never looked at my new passport. At that moment we felt so relieved. It seems like each officer in the USCIS/CBP/CIS departments have a slight variance in looking at things and enforcing the rules/laws. very few people are polite and understanding and most aren't, behave very rude Moral of the story is don't leave your hope until and unless you try all the possible ways before calling it quits. Something will definitely work.

Anybody else has any success stories at Tijuana-Mexico border lately to share? I am planning to go there soon same as Rambabu 1234 above...Please share your experiences.