Covid19 -B2 visa overstay question

k6yarr

New Member
Hi, I ( me and my spouse) came US through B2 visa valid for 6 months . My i-94 will expire in about a week. My ticket back to Nepal was cancelled by emirates due to covid-19 . There is no information about the date I can rebook the ticket or when Nepal will allow incoming flights. It is likely that that will be atleast a month or more for my flight re-booking.
My question is , Do i still need to file i-539 ( extension for stay) ? It is very unrealistic to apply for i-539 because , 1st - The issue was caused by covid and emirates cancelled the flight, 2nd- It is not our decision to overstay at all but we are forced to and that process takes incredibly long time and before the application is processed we might already get return ticket.
If i get the ticket for later date will i be stopped for illegal overstay at the airport because our visa and i-94 is expired? I am thinking that passport control with understand that I had no intention for illegal overstay but it was caused by covid-19. Also, it doesn't make any sense to submit i-539 by paying extra charge of 370$+ biometrics fee because that is really harsh and unfair for issue beyond our control. Will the customs officer understand our situation and grant us departure despite our i-94 and visa expiration ?
I am really worried at this point and can't think of anything I can do except going to airport with expired i-94 and nervous face. Europe government has extended all visitor visa for 3 months but that is not the case in the USA, and I don't know why.
 
one would have expected that some time over the past couple of months with all the travel warnings etc you would have looked into rebooking to get home earlier? Anyway, nothing to be done about that now, assuming you have already checked with the Nepalese embassy and confirmed they are not arranging any repatriation flights. (Many countries, including those that have closed to commercial air traffic, are doing this.)

anyway ..There is no passport control on the way out. No-one will stop you or question you on the way out. The problem will arise if you want to return to the US.

So your route depends on if that is important to you. Understand that if you do not file an I539, your visas will be cancelled on the first day of your overstay. When you reapply for visas, you will have to answer “yes” to the question about whether you have overstayed before. Another non-immigrant visa could be very difficult to get as a result. While covid is a “reason”and the interviewing officer may be lenient, s/he could also reasonably ask why you stayed weeks beyond the various travel warnings and let it reach this point. Hard to say which way it will go. Of course if you don’t plan to return then there is no issue to worry about.
 
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one would have expected that some time over the past couple of months with all the travel warnings etc you would have looked into rebooking to get home earlier? Anyway, nothing to be done about that now, assuming you have already checked with the Nepalese embassy and confirmed they are not arranging any repatriation flights. (Many countries, including those that have closed to commercial air traffic, are doing this.)

anyway ..There is no passport control on the way out. No-one will stop you or question you on the way out. The problem will arise if you want to return to the US.

So your route depends on if that is important to you. Understand that if you do not file an I539, your visas will be cancelled on the first day of your overstay. When you reapply for visas, you will have to answer “yes” to the question about whether you have overstayed before. Another non-immigrant visa could be very difficult to get as a result. While covid is a “reason”and the interviewing officer may be lenient, s/he could also reasonably ask why you stayed weeks beyond the various travel warnings and let it reach this point. Hard to say which way it will go. Of course if you don’t plan to return then there is no issue to worry about.


Thank you so much, we waited until the last moment because we were hopeful that the situation would be better and we would get the ticket before the i-94 expires, but that was never to happen as it is getting worse and border control is getting more stricter. We also blindly assumed that there would definitely be a grace period for i-94 amid the covid-19.
Now, If i do file i-539 , will that still be useless because the processing time is said to be 4-6 months. By that time , we will definitely be gone . All the biometrics offices are also closed now. We definitely are applying for immigrant visa again . What is the best action we can take from here ? We definitely dont want to be in a position where we will be denied visa to US again because of overstay.
 
Thank you so much, we waited until the last moment because we were hopeful that the situation would be better and we would get the ticket before the i-94 expires, but that was never to happen as it is getting worse and border control is getting more stricter. We also blindly assumed that there would definitely be a grace period for i-94 amid the covid-19.
Now, If i do file i-539 , will that still be useless because the processing time is said to be 4-6 months. By that time , we will definitely be gone . All the biometrics offices are also closed now. We definitely are applying for immigrant visa again . What is the best action we can take from here ? We definitely dont want to be in a position where we will be denied visa to US again because of overstay.

what do you mean you are applying for “immigrant visa again”? Do you mean non immigrant?

have you contacted your embassy about possibie repatriation?

the point of filing the i539, even if it won’t be adjudicated, is that it shows you were trying to do something rather than just overstay, and it puts you in a “pending” status - it still counts as overstay if the petition gets denied or you leave before it is adjudicated (the most likely from what you have said), but you don’t start accumulating unlawful presence. If you just overstay you start accruing unlawful presence on day 1. (180 days of unlawful presence triggers a ban on entry to the US of one year from the date you leave, I’m assuming your overstay won’t be that long though.)
 
what do you mean you are applying for “immigrant visa again”? Do you mean non immigrant?

have you contacted your embassy about possibie repatriation?

the point of filing the i539, even if it won’t be adjudicated, is that it shows you were trying to do something rather than just overstay, and it puts you in a “pending” status - it still counts as overstay if the petition gets denied or you leave before it is adjudicated (the most likely from what you have said), but you don’t start accumulating unlawful presence. If you just overstay you start accruing unlawful presence on day 1. (180 days of unlawful presence triggers a ban on entry to the US of one year from the date you leave, I’m assuming your overstay won’t be that long though.)

HI, Thank you for the response. I have one more final concern

In case our i539 gets denied or adjudicated (which is most likely) does our overstay affect our sponsor ? My daughter is our sponsor and if she wants to sponsor other relatives in the future , would our overstay affect her history negatively ? I know it would definitely make us hard to reapply for visa again , but how about other people she will be sponsoring ?
 
HI, Thank you for the response. I have one more final concern

In case our i539 gets denied or adjudicated (which is most likely) does our overstay affect our sponsor ? My daughter is our sponsor and if she wants to sponsor other relatives in the future , would our overstay affect her history negatively ? I know it would definitely make us hard to reapply for visa again , but how about other people she will be sponsoring ?
Your terminology is a little confusing. Only immigrant visas have “sponsors”. If you mean she will be hosting other relatives
on visits, it shouldn’t affect that. The visa applications will be judged on the merits of the people applying and their own ties home.
 
Your terminology is a little confusing. Only immigrant visas have “sponsors”. If you mean she will be hosting other relatives
on visits, it shouldn’t affect that. The visa applications will be judged on the merits of the people applying and their own ties home.

Thanks, I did file i539 few days ago. If I leave before the fingerprints and application gets adjudicated, will the fee be refunded ?
 
Thanks, I did file i539 few days ago. If I leave before the fingerprints and application gets adjudicated, will the fee be refunded ?
No.

When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing and biometric service fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request.” See section ”filing fee”, https://www.uscis.gov/i-539
 
Is USCIS considering positively an extension of stay petition under current B2 status taking into account that it’s a timely filed petition and non frivolous as is baddest on the fact that the alien country has banned all inbound and outbound flights depriving the alien to leave before his/her I-94 expires? I mean, any idea on how USCIS is treating petitions like this that are originated because of the Covid outbreak ?
 
Can anybody give comments on this query?:
Is USCIS considering positively an extension of stay petition under current​
B2 status taking into account that it’s a timely filed petition and non​
frivolous as is based on the fact that the alien’s country has banned all​
inbound and outbound flights depriving the alien to leave before his/her I-94​
expires? I mean, any idea on how USCIS is treating petitions like this that​
are originated because of the Covid outbreak ?​
Are Covid related matters like travel ban considered to be frivolous? If that​
were the case, it’d be insane, wouldn’t it?​
 
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