From: keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Vista expired and maybe passport
Date: 12 Nov 1992 02:06:33 GMT
Organization: The University of Western Australia
NNTP-Posting-Host: wapsy.psy.uwa.oz.au

ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rikiya Asano) writes:

>           Last week I was think about those long years since I've been
>away from Nippon and, I was looking through my "shoe box" file and I
>found out that my Visa had expired. I stiil cannot find the date on my
>pastport. I do have a valid I-20 for an F1 student. Maybe, I got caught
>up in the mix and forgot completely about it. These thing are very
>inconvient. What do they do in these cases? I really don not like
>naturalization people, ever those in Nihon. Well, maybe its not the
>people but the Job.  
 
What is the date on your I-94(?), a paper slip bearing the date
to which you are allowed to remain in the USA that an INS
officer stapled on your passport at the port of entry?
That's the date you should not forget. If I-94 is already
expired, you have to take an action immediately. If I-94
is still valid, you're OK.

[Caveat: I had a J-1 visa so my comments may or may not
relevant for F-1 visa holders. The US congress/sanate
was debating on the changes on the Immgration Reform Act of
1986 last November. Although there weren't any proposed changes 
in F-1 visa category, the laws and regulations change from
time to time. I advise you to see a councellor at the
international student affairs office of your university
to get the correct imformation to keep your paper in order.
And I hereby declare that I am not responsible for any
damage, express or implicit, resulting from the use/misuse
of my post, which I believe to be true, accurate, and
complete, to best of my knowledge at this date of November
12, 1992. sig.] 

So long as your I-20 is valid, you are allowed to stay in the
USA and continue the activities for which the visa was issued
(in your case, F-1, carrying out a full-time study in the
institution that issued the I-20). Next time you learve,
temporarily the USA, you must re-apply for F-1 visa at
the US Embassy or consulate near you in order to get back
in. For re-application of F-1, you need a valid I-20
issued by your university. (For the details, ask international
student affairs office at your university before you leave
the USA.)
 
Technically speaking, a visa, stamped on your passport, is
a sign of the preliminary approval for the immigration
entry by the embassy or consulate. The holder of a valid
entry visa is allowed to travel to the port of entry 
to go through the immigration check in person until the  
date when the visa expires. However, the possesion of a
valid entry visa does not automatically entitle you
a permission to enter. INS officer(s) you encounter at
the port of entry has the authority to approve/disapprove
your entry, if there is a reason for him/her to over-
rule, despite a valid entry visa issued at the overseas
embassy or consulate. (All the more reasons not to 
dislike/hate INS officers. So long as you papers are
in order and you're telling truth, you should not 
have any reason to fear INS. INS, by the way, is
an equal opportunity employer, as all US government
services are, whose officers represent all segments
of the US ethnic groups, Mr. Asano. :)