A recurring and costly paperwork problem is quietly turning lawfully employed H-1B professionals into unintentional overstays — and immigration attorneys are again urging workers to check their records after every entry to the United States.
The issue centers on the Form I-94, the electronic admission record that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issues each time you enter the country. Your I-94 “admit-until” date — not your H-1B approval notice — is what actually governs how long you may legally stay and work. Under longstanding rules, CBP issues the I-94 for the length of your H-1B petition or the expiration of your passport, whichever comes first. If your passport expires before your petition ends, your I-94 is cut short to the passport date, even though your underlying H-1B status runs longer.
The practical danger is severe. Once that shortened I-94 date passes, unlawful presence begins to accrue immediately — even if you keep working in good faith believing your status is valid through your approval notice. Accruing more than 180 days of unlawful presence can trigger a three-year reentry bar, and more than one year can trigger a ten-year bar. Attorneys also report periodic CBP data-entry errors that assign an earlier admit-until date than the traveler is actually entitled to.
What should H-1B workers do? First, retrieve and review your I-94 at the official CBP site (i94.cbp.dhs.gov) after every international entry, and compare the admit-until date against your I-797 approval notice. Second, keep your passport valid well beyond your petition period. If your I-94 was shortened because of a soon-to-expire passport, one common fix is to renew the passport and then travel and re-enter, so CBP issues a corrected I-94 matching the full petition period. If you spot a CBP error, you can request a correction through a CBP Deferred Inspection office or the online I-94 correction process.
The takeaway is simple but urgent: never assume your approval notice defines your authorized stay. The I-94 controls, and a five-minute check can prevent a status violation that jeopardizes future green card and visa applications.
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Source: X (Twitter) @ImmiLawToolbox