Orlando Villas · Florida Dream Villa
Orlando Park Tickets · Florida Car Hire · US Domestic Car Rental · Florida Car Rental · Enhanced Roadside Assistance
Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: I-94

  1. #1
    Gold 5 Star Member E. Cosgrove's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    7,487

    I-94

    Anybody travelled into the US via land recently?
    I believe the I-94 is now electronic, does anyone know how that works? Do you input your own info at a kiosk or do you have to queue for an immo?


    Liz


  2. #2
    Gold 5 Star Member SDJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Windwood Bay/Tavistock, Devon.
    Posts
    4,554
    Not quite understanding the question Liz. Wasn't the 1-94 replaced with Esta or am I getting confused??


  3. #3
    Gold 5 Star Member E. Cosgrove's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    7,487
    ESTA only applies to travelers arriving by air or sea into the US. If you are transiting via land i.e. From Canada, you still need to complete an I-94 visa waiver. I understand it is now electronic to speed up the process but I am not quite sure how it works.


    Liz


  4. #4
    Gold 5 Star Member SDJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Windwood Bay/Tavistock, Devon.
    Posts
    4,554
    Quote Originally Posted by E. Cosgrove View Post
    ESTA only applies to travelers arriving by air or sea into the US. If you are transiting via land i.e. From Canada, you still need to complete an I-94 visa waiver. I understand it is now electronic to speed up the process but I am not quite sure how it works.
    Oh, sorry I would not know either!!! Hope you can find out!


  5. #5
    Super Moderator MTP's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    2,410
    We cross from Canada to the US regularly by road. You are spot on, ESTA is only for air (and sea?). If you have ESTA it makes the I-94W process quicker (I think it's now a white form instead of the green one, plus ca change!). It's not mission critical if you don't have either as you can do it at the border.

    You need to pay ~$6 at the border (they take cards).

    The thing to watch is where you are with your current visas. If you've got a current 3/12 visa from a recent trip, then you won't need an 1-94 as long as it covers your trip. If you do get an I-94 remember to get it removed when you leave. This is a pain for us as we drive down to Florida at Christmas, but hope to be back in New England for Spring Break. If we have the visas then the border crossing is much quicker, so we don't like to hand them in automatically when we leave the US - but we need to do it before they expire.

    Ultimately, when you cross the border, Liz, just remember Border Services have zero sense of humour, zero tolerance and zero humanity. Explain your circumstances honestly and you'll be fine. We often cross the border between New Brunswick and Maine and explain that we're headed for Florida for two weeks. Not a blink.
    Last edited by MTP; 22-08-2016 at 03:11.
    Euan


  6. #6
    Gold 5 Star Member E. Cosgrove's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    7,487
    Thanks Euan.
    We don't have visas although we do have current ESTAs. I was trying to find out if I could get the forms online and complete them in advance but all the information I can find says the process is now electronic.
    We are in Toronto at present and hoping to cross at Saulte Saint Marie in order to drive down to Lake Michigan and later on to Chicago. Hopefully we shouldn't have a problem. I will let you know how it goes.


    Liz


  7. #7
    Gold 5 Star Member E. Cosgrove's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    7,487
    Well we crossed the border into the US yesterday and although we might have just dropped lucky we had the friendliest and funniest welcome ever, we were quite sorry to leave our new friends behind!

    we queued across the bridge and waited for our turn and a young female border guard looked at our passports, asked us a couple of questions and then showed us where to park to go and complete our paperwork.

    The immo's all seemed to be busy, though not all with other people. The guy who called us over was initially on the phone but seemed to get cut off. No sooner had he started to deal with us than the phone rang and he said, "this will be the guy who cut me off" He took the call which was obviously official business and when he put the phone down he said "Bye, love you!" He slammed his hand against his head and said "why did I say that? The guy will think l'm nuts!"
    That broke the ice and as soon as he saw our UK passports he asked how we voted in the referendum! Our party was split 50:50 so he said the leavers " well done guys, we're Americans and we don't like being told what to do either"

    My husband and I have current ESTA's so as you said, Euan, it was pretty straightforward but his colleague came to help my sister and her husband with their paperwork as theirs had recently lapsed.
    He was very interested in wether or not we watched Keeping up Appearances, he loved Hyacinth Bucket but couldn't remember her husbands name.....Richard we told him.
    He also admired the colour of my sisters nail varnish.

    They were very clever. getting all the information they needed but in a friendly non threatening manner. He asked what I did for a living and when I told him I had retired at 55 there ensued a conversation about retirement ages, state pensions and private pensions.
    We said we were going on to Wisconsin and the second officer said "Why on earth are you going to Wisconsin? Their motto is "Smell our Dairy Air" I'm not smelling anyone's derrière " and so the conversation went on.
    It was quite time consuming but when we had finally finished they sent us on our way with a smile, a wave and good wishes for a great vacation.
    If only every entry experience was as good!


    Liz


  8. #8
    Super Moderator caroline's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Calabay Parc, Florida & Purley, Surrey
    Posts
    8,243
    It's so good to hear a story like this Liz. I flew into Washington with my daughter in May and we had a charming IO he was a young guy (early 30's - so positively juvenile) but in insisted we must be sisters (poor lad had obviously left his contacts at home) chatted about what we were going to do be doing even offered some tourist tips!
    Caroline & Dave



  9. #9
    Super Moderator MTP's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    2,410
    Generally, Liz, the road border guards are grand ... but in no hurry. i guess it's not like an airport with X number of folks needing to get on a plane (this is for countries with pre-clearance like Canada and Ireland ... any others?).

    The only time it's not been convivial like that is when myself and my business partner were driving to New York for an expo - long story to do with permanent residency status for Canadian border services! Anyway, we set off from Nova Scotia at 6 pm ... after clearing my house out from 30 cm's of snow (my family and I had just driven back from New England and while we'd been away, there'd been a couple of dumps of snow).

    John and I set off after we felt that my family were at least mobile to drive through New Brunswick to the US border - about a 5-6 hour drive. Well ... we hit a blizzard! We pulled in to the US border in the wee hours of the morning, both shattered. The border guard asked us to pull the car aside (expected). We then got asked about the fact they couldn't see the license plate ... it was covered in three inches of snow!

    Long story short, we got through, drove on to Freeport and pulled in to the LLBean car park and kipped for a few hours!
    Euan


Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •