Any difference between the K1 Visa expiry and I-94 expiration date?

First we must define what a “Visa” is. A visa as defined in Wikipedia | Visa (Document):

“A visa (from the Latin charta visa, meaning “paper which has been seen”), is a conditional authorization given by a competent authority of a country for a person who is not a citizen of that country to enter its territory and to remain there for a limited duration.”

Visa (Document)
Wikipedia.org | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_(document)

A “Visa” is a document that allows you to enter a certain territory / country. The limitation as mentioned above is given to the visa holder / bearer either upon issuance of the visa or upon arrival as decided by the Immigration Officer who interviews you at your Port of Entry.

 

Now, with that said, here’s the definition of the U.S. Government of a “U.S. Visa” as stated on the The Official U.S. Travel.State.Gov Website:

“A citizen of a foreign country who seeks to enter the United States generally must first obtain a U.S. visa, which is placed in the traveler’s passport, a travel document issued by the traveler’s country of citizenship.”

What is a U.S. Visa?
Travel.State.Gov  | http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/frequently-asked-questions/what-is-a-u-s-visa.html

 

Part of another definition of the U.S. Government is this:

“The type of visa you must have is defined by immigration law, and relates to the purpose of your travel. A visa allows a foreign citizen to travel to the U.S. port-of entry, and request permission of the U.S. immigration inspector to enter the United States. Issuance of a visa does not guarantee entry to the United States. The CBP Officer at the port-of-entry determines whether you can be admitted and decides how long you can stay for any particular visit.”

“Visa”
Travel.State.Gov: Glossary | http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/glossary.html#V

Like I have mentioned above, a VISA allows you to enter the U.S. (and other countries) if given permission by the Immigration / Border Officer, but your length of stay is up to the Immigration Officer you meet at your port-of-entry (POE). This length of stay can be found on your I-94 Arrival / Admission Record and your Arrival Stamp.

 

Another thing you must remember is:

Having a visa, doesn’t give you the “right” to enter a country. It’s a “privilege” given to you by a government body to “seek permission” to enter their territory. A person with a valid visa, if at any point doesn’t satisfy the Immigration Officer’s inquiries at port-of-entry (POE), may be turned away and sent back to their home country.

 

Now, what is an I-94? Read the definition here.

 

Your visa (the “entry permission” document), at the time of issuance has an expiration date. For K1 Visa holders, the expiration date is tied to the medical exam date. This is usually 6 months from the date of the Medical Exam. I took my Medical Exam on May 14th and the K1 Visa expiration I had was November 14th. That’s 6 months from my Medical Exam date.

This is also a single-entry visa. This means you need to fly out of your home country BEFORE your visa expires.

My K1 Visa and CBP I-94 Arrival/Admission Record | What is the difference between a K1 Visa expiry and I-94 expiration date?  |  © 2015 - onwards, CBP.gov, US Travel.State.Gov, MrsPresson.com Knowledgebase

My K1 Visa and CBP I-94 Arrival/Admission Record | What is the difference between a K1 Visa expiry and I-94 expiration date? | © 2015 – onwards, CBP.gov, US Travel.State.Gov, MrsPresson.com Knowledgebase

 

B2 / Tourist Visas are usually multiple-entry visas and have a 6-month approved stay within the United States. Of course, as mentioned above, the length of stay still is up to the CBP / Immigration Officer interviewing you at port-of-entry (POE).

My old B2 Tourist Visa / CBP I-94 Arrival Admission Record | What is the difference between a K1 Visa expiry and I-94 expiration date?  |  © 2015 - onwards, CBP.gov, US Travel.State.Gov, MrsPresson.com Knowledgebase

My old B2 Tourist Visa / CBP I-94 Arrival Admission Record | What is the difference between a K1 Visa expiry and I-94 expiration date? | © 2015 – onwards, CBP.gov, US Travel.State.Gov, MrsPresson.com Knowledgebase

 

You will also notice that on your K1 Visa, there’s a part marked as “Entries”. This denotes how many times you can use a visa before it is considered invalid.

K1 Visa as a Single-Entry visa and B2 Tourist Visa as Multiple-Entry Visas | What is the difference between a K1 Visa expiry and I-94 expiration date? | © 2015 - onwards, CBP.gov, US Travel.State.Gov, MrsPresson.com Knowledgebase

K1 Visa as a Single-Entry visa and B2 Tourist Visa as Multiple-Entry Visas | What is the difference between a K1 Visa expiry and I-94 expiration date? | © 2015 – onwards, CBP.gov, US Travel.State.Gov, MrsPresson.com Knowledgebase

 

  • B2 Tourist Visas are multiple-entry visas and you can reuse them multiple times to enter the United States given that the visa still isn’t expired.

 

So now we know what a Visa is, what are Visa Entries, and what the I-94 is. What is the difference of the Visa and I-94 expiration dates?

Your VISA EXPIRATION DATE pertains to when you MUST USE your visa and fly out of your country to be able to use the privilege to enter a country.

  • A K1 Visa expiration date does not bear ANY weight once you enter the United States if not used with your I-94 Arrival / Admission Record. The K1 Visa alone is already invalid since you already used it to ENTER the United States. Hence the CBP Immigration Officer marking your “Entries” to “0”.

Your I-94 ARRIVAL / ADMISSION RECORD’s EXPIRATION DATE pertains to when you are ALLOWED TO STAY in the United States before you must return to your home country.

  • A K1 Visa holder, as mentioned repeatedly throughout my blog, only has 90 days to marry their U.S. Petitioner Fiancé(e). If things/plans don’t follow through, they MUST LEAVE THE US and go back to their home country. This “90 days” is the expiration date found on your I-94.

 

This is also defined on the Glossary page of Travel.State.Gov under “Visa Validity”:

“The Expiration Date for the visa should not be confused with the authorized length of your stay in the United States, given to you by the U.S. immigration inspector at port-of-entry, on the admission stamp or paper Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record.

The visa expiration date has nothing to do with the authorized length of your stay in the United States for any given visit.

Visa Validity
Travel.State.Gov: Glossary | http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/glossary.html#V

 

Importance of the I-94 Arrival / Admission Record

Your I-94’s expiration date is VERY IMPORTANT when processing documents especially your Social Security Number and U.S. Government issued ID’s. Most government agencies will not honor your application if your I-94 is close to expiry.

This is also why you MUST ADJUST YOUR STATUS as soon as you get married. Adjusting your status will PROTECT your legal presence in the US.

If you haven’t applied for AOS yet, even if you are already married to your U.S. Petitioner Fiancé(e), technically you can be classified as an “illegal alien”. This is why the process of AOS is important.

 

So I hope you’ve understood the differences of the expiration dates and why you must forget about your K1 Visa Expiration Date once you enter the US. The most important date to remember after US entry is the I-94 expiration date.

 

Sources:

Mrs. Presson has written 82 articles

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9 thoughts on “Any difference between the K1 Visa expiry and I-94 expiration date?

  1. Markie says:

    Hi Mrs. Presson,

    Good points.. I have a good question for you. Well, i think so..because I can’t find anything about it.

    My I-94 expires April 14, 2016 and neither my I-765 nor my I-485 is ready. While the AoS is under process (Submitted 2/8/2016, few days after the wedding), does that make me an illegal alien while in the US?

    By the way, thank you for you blog.. Love it!!

  2. jackie says:

    Hello how if we got married but my husband forgot to file after our marriage certificate to process for change status and my k1 is already expired for 6months.i was detained by checkpoint recently cause of my expired visa what will i have to do?do this have to be on court get a lawyear or something?thank you i appreciate this big help for us struggling right now

    1. Mrs. Presson says:

      It has been indicated in the I-129F Fiancé(e) Petition Process AND K1 Visa Process that a K1 Visa Holder after entering the U.S. must apply for adjustment of status. One cannot just simply forget this very important detail. It has been both highlighted in I-129F and K1 Visa Instructions, and CBP Officers do remind the K1 Visa Holders at POE about adjusting your status.

      It will be in your best interest to contact an immigrtation lawyer at this point. That and contact USCIS directly and ask for options.

  3. Mae says:

    Hi Ms. Erika, how are you doing?
    I have a big problem now :(.. my I-94 is already expired and we are not still married.. I’m so down, worried and confused now. What should I do? Your help is really appreciated. Thanks

      1. Mae says:

        It means there’s no other way? We still want to get married. There’s no problem between us, the only problem is, he’s very busy because we are struggling financially right now. And I thought that my visa will going to expire on the 15th this month.
        I just read your article right now about the difference between I-94 and K1 visa..
        We thought that we can still married til this 15 🙁

        1. Mrs. Presson says:

          These are rules by USCIS and the Department of State and has been repeatedly reiterated from the I-129F Process, K1 Visa, and the CBP Officer are tasked to remind you at your Port-of-Entry about the 90-day rule.

          By now, you are way beyond your allowed 90-day stay in the US. You’re almost at your 180-day mark. That’s double the allowed stay. You probably won’t be even issued a Marriage License. Call USCIS directly and ask for options.

        2. Mrs. Presson says:

          Even if you did get married, you will not be eligible to adjust your status to a permanent resident.

          Read this directly from the USCIS Website: http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-through-family/green-card-through-special-categories-family/k-nonimmigrant

          If You are Present in the United States as a K-1 Fiance(e)

          You should apply for adjustment as soon as you marry your fiancé(e).

          By law and regulations, you are required to marry the U.S. citizen who petitioned for you within 90 days of your admission to the United States in K-1 status.

          If you fail to marry, you will become removable from the United States and cannot adjust through any other means.

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