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I am currently in US with B1/B2 Visitor visa. Plan to depart US through Mexico by car. And then depart Mexico for another South American country. All within 120 day limit of B1/B2 visa.

When entering Mexico (by car) there is no passport control and nobody stamps my passport with departure stamp or stamp of entry to Mexico. And for B1/B2 Visa terms, Mexico or Canada is not considered a significant departure and time spent in Mexico will count towards staying in USA on B1/B2 visa.

If I overstay my Visa will be canceled and I am not lively to get another US visa again, it's a serious offence.

How can I prove to U.S. that I did not overstay my B1/B2 visa if there is no record of me leaving the US?

I can see one of these scenarios:

  • Upon my next visit to US, the border control officer will see the stamp in my passport of me departing Mexico within US B1 visa stay term. (Not sure is Mexico will stamp it.) And that will make everything allright.
  • I go back to US and deliberately fly out of USA to other country than Mexico or Canada.
  • When entering the Mexico by car I stop at the border and ask Mexican border control official to stamp my passport.
  • Is this something that can be fixed with I-94? However I wasn't given I-94 because it's no longer used for visitors arriving by air. Everything is electronic now.
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I found this info at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html

Not sure if it covers my situation:

If you received an electronic I-94 upon arrival by air or sea and depart via land, your departure may not be recorded accurately. A departure will be recorded if you depart via land and re-enter the United States prior to the expiration date stamped in your passport. If you are not a resident of Canada or Mexico and you receive an electronic I-94 and depart via land, but do not re-enter the United States prior to the expiration date stamped on your passport, you may want to travel with evidence of your departure into Canada or Mexico. Evidence of departure can include, but is not limited to, entry stamps in a passport, transportation tickets, pay stubs and/or other receipts. A traveler can request an entry stamp from CBSA when entering Canada or from the InstitutoNacional de Migracion (INM) when entering Mexico.

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    Yeah this, they don't record you leaving, but you're meant to hand over your I-94 if you have one. If not, your entrance into other country will prove you didn't overstay, if ever you need to.
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Nov 20, 2014 at 9:24
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    @MarkMayo: Yeah, but since mid-2013, they don't give you paper I-94s anymore (and since the OP is on B1/B2, which have a duration of stay of at most 6 months, they certainly did not get one). You can print it out from the website if you need one. I believe that back when you got a paper I-94, you could hand it over to Canadian/Mexican authorities when entering, and they will forward it to the U.S. I am curious if it will work now to print it out and then hand the printed-out version to Canada/Mexico when entering.
    – user102008
    Commented Nov 20, 2014 at 20:02
  • @user102008 I was given one crossing from Vancouver to USA this year (July). (A paper I94). Had to return it to the Canadian border.
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Nov 20, 2014 at 22:24
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    @MarkMayo: they don't give them for people entering by air; they still do for people entering by land
    – user102008
    Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 9:03
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    @user102008 yep, but it sounds like the OP is going via land, which is why I mentioned it.
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Mar 1, 2015 at 0:47
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When you enter Mexico, don't just drive past the customs border office. Stop and come in to get your visitor paper and passport stamp. That's your evidence when you go back to U.S.

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