Correcting an I-94
I-94 Specific Date Stamp
Your I-94 card should not have a definite end date. If you are a J-1 scholar and your I-94 was marked by a U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service official at the airport or other port-of-entry with a specific date (i.e. 11/30/2000), you need to change it. An end date on your I-94 card indicates that you are no longer legally present in the United States after that date.
Your I-94 card should be marked "D/S". D/S means "Duration of Status," when your card is marked "D/S" rather than with a date, it indicates that your presence in the United States is legal and valid as long as your IAP-66 is current, plus 30 days grace period beyond the end date unless you terminate your program early.
How to Fix It
The process of fixing your I-94 card usually takes about 3+ hours (45 minutes each way from Berkeley, by car or BART, and one or more hours at the INS).
You will need to visit the San Francisco District Office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Go to the Main Intake location, at 444 Washington Street, to wait in queue and request an appointment slip for the Deferred Inspection office. Start early, or bring a book while you wait: the office often has long lines. The referal office opens at 7a.m., and the Deferred Inspection office opens at 7:45a.m.
Explain that you are a J-1 scholar at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and that your I-94 card was marked incorrectly with a specific end date. The acting
officer will most likely correct the error on the back of your I-94 card. The correction will note that the date on the front is incorrect and that your I-94 is actually valid for D/S.
Changing the marked date on your I-94 is a free service. Please provide the IRSO office with a photocopy of your corrected I-94 card.
What to Bring
You need to bring with you the original copies of the following
documents: valid passport, 1-94 card, IAP-66. Remember that
copies will not be accepted: bring the original. Note that you must visit the office personally.
Location
The SF INS office is in downtown San Francisco. The phone
number for the Deferred Inspections office is not available to the public. You must inquire in person first at 444 Washington, first floor reception.
San Francisco Immigration and Naturalization Services
Reception office (start here!)
444 Washington Street
Deferred Inspections Office
630 Sansome Street
Room 931
Directions from BART
Take BART to the Embarcadero Station. Walk west on Market Street for a few blocks, turn right on Battery, walk about 5 blocks, then turn left on Washington. The building is at 444 Washington.
Click here for a rough street map of the area.
Directions by Car
Take the Bay Bridge (Interstate 80) to San Francisco, exit on Harrison Street/Embarcadero (first San Francisco exit from left lane), turn right on Harrison Street, left on The Embarcadero, and left on Washington Street. The entrance is between Battery and Sansome on Washington Street.
Parking can be difficult.
Click here for a map to the office from the Bay Bridge.
