H1/H4 I 94 card dates cut short

M

Montereydec

New Member
Hi All,
I worked for company A and had their visa stamped in my and my wife's passport. I changed employers and started working for company B.
We do not have the company B visa stamped in our passport.
The validity of company A visa is till March 2003.
The H1B and H4 papers of company B is till March 2005.
We travelled to India in November 2002.
When I came back the INS officer at port of enntry gav me I 94
valid till March 2005 as per new company B.
My wife had Company A H4 visa stamped in her passport valid
till March 2003. She travelled to India in November 2002 and
came back in Dec 2002. She also had her new H4 papers from
Company B valid from May 2002 till March
2005. While entering she showed the H4 papers to the INS
officer at entry port. But they gave her a I-94 card saying
Admitted until March 2003, as per validity of the old visa
stamped in her passport.
Is this a problem ?

Since both our passports stamped visa of company A validity will be over in March 2003, I am planning to send our passports to the state Department for Revalidation of our visas and get the new employers (company B ) visa stamp in our passports.

So will there be a problem for my wife or does she need to get a New I 94 card before we send for the revalidation ?
Or the dates with her I-94 needs to get corrected ?
Somebody suggested that I need to file H4 extension again for my wife even though she has H4 from company B valid till March 2005.
Please give me suggestions.
 
Send both passports for revalidation. If revalidation is denied for your spouse, then she will have to go out of US and get a new H4 visa. Dont lose your sleep on this. you have enough time to react if St, Louis refuses revalidation.
You can also visit the nearest POE and try to get the right I94...
 
How to approach the INS at POE

Hi Jaxen,
Thanks for your response. So I undertsand that I could take a chance by sending visas to Revalidate at St Louis and then wait for results. So I feel that I can try to get the I 94 corrected by going to our nearest POE and then send it for Revalidation. Can you or anybody please tell me how to approach the INS officer at the POE ( In our case it is San Francisco airport) . My wife arrived just 8 days back so will they still agree to our request ? Also should I carry the Airplane boarding passes of her arrival ? Any thing else I should take ?
Another scenario: If I send for Revalidation to St Louis without correcting the I 94 and it gets rejected, can I file her new H 4 extension ?
All suggestions all welcome and yes I did loose some sleep over this.
Thanks,
 
You are correct. The problem is NOT the visa stamp (expiration of this is irrelevant as long as you do not travel internationally) but the I-94 expiration. The officer should have issued her an I-94 doe the entire validity period of the approval notice. She needs to return to the port of entry and have them correct the error. If they refuse, she will need to go to the INS District Office with jurisdiction over the Port of Entry.

This is in accordance with a memo from INS Assistant Commissioner Michael Aytes. A copy of this memo is attached.
 
Hi Montereydec,

Did you check your previous company 'A' h1b status, is it
still valid/revoked before your travel. if so, when.
this is not related to your present issue. but just for
info as i am in the similar situation.

thanks
 
Thanks Jim

Thanks Jim,
I will try to go the SFO POE to get the I 94 card corrected. Any info on how to approach the INS at POE San Francisco is welcome.
Kiran , my previous company "A" H1B and H4 are still valid and the company hasnt cancelled them. I checked with them.
I had a interesting question related with all this:
One of my friend has a H1B stamped in his passport with validity till Feb 2003. same for his wife on H4. He is going to file for H1 B extension. it will take beyond Feb 2003 for his H1b /H4 papers to arrive and then he will send it to revalidate or get stamp in india. So my question is how come he/ his wife stay in USA after Feb 2003 if their I 94 card expires on Feb 2003. and maintain a legal status ?
 
As long as he files for extension prior to expiration of the I-94 they remain in status while INS adjudicates the case.
 
INS at POE did not correct I 94

Hi All,
After reading your suggestions and referring to other web sites information, we went to the SFO airport POE to get the I 94 corrected. there is a INS office in the arrival area (Not the regular INS counters where the passengers get the I 94 stamped)
and there were 2 INS officers. We explained our case to them. They listened to us but said that they cannot correct the I 94 card. They asked us to go to the local INS district office.
They did see all our papers and passports. They were nice to talk to and explained us their inability to correct the I 94 cards. They told that my wife should have checked her I 94 before she left the counter. My attorney had also told me that they wont correct it.
He also told me that the Local INS office also wont do it easily unless you are lucky enough.
Anybody has good experience of success at the San Jose INS office regarding correcting I 94 cards.
My Attorney said that the INS office might ask me to fill up I 102 (Correction of I 94 card fees $100) instead file for a new H4 I 539 fees $140 which is a reliable way and also faster.
I haven't decided what to do next. Anybody has any views please fill free to post it.
 
Recommend going with the attorneys advice and file directly with the service center. Its more reliable than dealing with local INS office face to face - and fewer questions. Make sure you file before March, so your wife does not go out of status.
 
please let me know how you are filing I-102, is the cost $100 or more. did you get any information from someone with exp in filing I-102 in california or other state?

thanks
 
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