guys please help

P

prasadgc

Registered Users (C)
I came to usa with comapny 'A' visa which is valid upto july 2000.
my wife used the same h1 and went for h4 in india and got that h4
and came to usa.in airport she got i94 which is valid until july 2000.
in march 2000 my company applied for my h1 extension and i got new h1
upto feb2001.i have no idea about applling my wife h4 at that time.
with my h1 extension i send my passport and my wife passport to st louis
for visarevalidation.both of us got visa upto feb28 2001.

feb2001 i acme to know that my wife also needed h4 and we applied for that.
she got h4.now look at our problem.

we applied for 485.now ins is aking how my wife is legally stayed for the period
for the period july31 2000to feb28 2001.it is asking the proof now.

is my wife stay is illegal for that period even if she has visa for that period?.

if she is illegal how can use section245i.she is here on dec21 2000.she never did
any transctions.how can i prove her presence here on that day.

our bad luck is we lost our pasports when we sent for visa reavlaidation to st louis.
we apllied and got the new passports from indian embassy.we lost the passports after
they issue the visa and sent in post.we lost that in post.we received all other
documents other than pasports.we reported to postal people too.we have a complaint copy.

what i have to do to get approved

guys please help me with your advices
 
My 2 cents...

Just a question....how did you know that your visa had been revalidated when you sent it to St. Louis?
As per your post, you never received the passports after revalidating the visa.

If the visa has been revalidated as you mention then there is no problem. Your wife's status was legal.

What you need to do is try and contact the INS folks in St. Louis and ask them if they can give you the visa # that had been issued.

I think you can then send this number with the explanation to INS....

...just my thoughts.
 
please see my response

HI,
after i lost i called so many times the st louis people.they said they issued and send the passposrts along with the cover i send.they do,nt know what happened to my passports.i received all other sipporting documents back apart from passports.
help me guys

having a valid visa is legal stay or she needs valid h4 even she has valid visa
 
H-4 status

Do not worry. H-4 status is always valid as long as your H-1 remains valid. Stamping is only needed at port of entry.
In fact you do need to apply for H-4 seperately anymore. I never got H-4 applied for my family and got the Visa stamped twice on 2 different approvals.
Take care.
 
Need to address carefully- Consult good attorney

Hi Prasadgc

One of my close buddy had same problem with his wife H-4, he did pay $ 1000.00 and 485 A form apart from 485 application.
It happend to him and did lot of search on this portal.

Consult good attorney, do not worry it will not be a big problem if you address it carefuly...


my 2 cents.

Nov140sagc
:cool: :cool:
 
You should be fine !

Take a look at the link below :

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/h1b/h4.html

It has the following message :

--------------------------------------------------------------

The following question by a fellow American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) member was recently put to Ms. Yvonne M. LaFleur, Chief, Nonimmigrant Branch, INS: "Whether the H-4 visa holders maintain their status as long as the principal alien maintains his/her status, or are they also required to re-file to maintain their status in change of employer situations?"

The following facts were furnished to Chief LaFleur: "The principal alien is the beneficiary of an H-1B visa petition by 'Company A'. The visa is valid for a period of three years. The accompanying family member receives an H-4 visa for the same period reflecting the principal alien's employment with 'Company A'. One year later, the principal alien changes employers. A new H-1B visa is petitioned for by 'Company B', and all procedures are followed so that the principal alien is never out of status. The validity dates on the H-4 accompanying family member's visa has two years remaining, but still shows 'Company A' as the H-1B petitioner and not 'Company B'.

Chief LaFleur's response to the AILA member's query acknowledged that an H-4 nonimmigrant alien's authorized stay in the United States is contingent on the continued validity of the H-1B principal alien's status. The H-4 nonimmigrant alien continues to remain in valid nonimmigrant status as long as the principal alien remains in a valid nonimmigrant status.

"Since the H-4 nonimmigrant classification is not specific to an employer, the H-4 nonimmigrant alien remains in valid status even if the principal alien changes H-1B employers. No action is required on the part of the H-4 nonimmigrant alien when the principal H-1B alien changes employers within the same classification."

Chief LaFleur's response should enlighten INS examiners in regards to whether the principal alien's family owes a penalty under Immigration & Nationality Act Sec. 245(i) when adjusting status (procedure leading to issuance of permanent resident status). The INS examiner may in good faith (until now) have believed that H-4 status is violated by not refiling when the H-1B principal alien changes his or her employer.

-------------------------------------------------------

Hope this helps !! All the Best !!
 
PrasadGC,

This is one more sensitive issue which is not clearly defined.

What I was told by my attorney earlier was to apply for H-4 when I change H-1B and that way, it will be safe and she would be in legal status.

If you have the tracking numbers and Fedex letter stating that the package was lost would be helpful to support your case.

Please contact a good attorney.

Good Luck
 
Prasadgc,

If you have failed to renew your wife H4 in 2000, she has lost her status. H4 renewal is not automatic.

When you had the H4 renewed in Feb 2001, was the start date from Feb 2001? or July 2000? If it says that the H4 is from Feb 2001, then her stay from July 2000 to Feb 2001 was unlawful.

Having visa in hand has nothing to do with lawful stay. Its the I-94 that determines the stay.

Check with an attorney. You may have to pay the $1000 penalty.

Good Luck!

**********************

To gambler: Your statement is incorrect. You may have gotten visas stamped. H4 is not automatically valid. If you are not sure, pls don't assume.

Spouses who come on H4 initially from overseas come with no H4 Approval notice. But once here, any subsequent H4 renewal requires applying thru INS and obtaining a H4 approval notice.
 
Prasadgc,

Visa is just a document to to enter USA. It does not give you a legal status to stay in US. However as "alpha beta" mentioned that the H4 remains valid until you have H1, I think your wife status should be fine. If its the matter of $1000, I suggest pay it.

For sure, Consult a lawyer with some experience before you proceed todo anything on this case.
 
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