I-94 expired for H-4 ! help please

R

rb157

New Member
Hello,
I am in a difficult situation which arose out of
the following:

I am on an H-1 visa valid upto 2004. When I changed
employers in July 2001, I got a new I-797 with a new I-94.
My wife didnt get one since we didnt file for an H-4
extension since the H-4 was valid till October. We
travelled out of the country in August 2001 but came
back separately. When I got back, my new I-94 had
the new expiry date on it (Feb 2004) even though my
visa would expire in October. (this expiry date is
the same as my I-797 expires). But when my wife
got back, the officer at POE put the expiry date
as the one on her H-4 visa (october 2001) and not
of the I-797. Since then, we also got new Visas
revalidated from St. Louis for both of us. So, both
of us have valid visas till Feb 2004

We never travelled since then and kept our passports
in the lockers ! Now, its time to file for our I485
and I am realizing that her I-94 expired in October 2001 !!!
We had always assumed that when she entered, the immigration
officer would have put the I-797 date on it and never
bothered to check that.

Now, the question is, what is the remedy. Can we file
some form to INS/POE and get her I-94 rectified [2 years
later ???]

thanks a lot in advance for your responses.

-- rb157:confused:
 
rb157,
U say that u came to US after a visit in 2001 and that U had revalidated ur visa after 2001. In that case did u not get a new I-94 with the new approval?
 
Hi,
thanks for your reply. No, we both got our VISAS
revalidated - we got new visa stamps but no new
I-94s. Are you supposed to get new I-94 when
you do VISA revalidation in St. Louis. I thought
the new I-94 only comes when you get the I-797
(via h1 xfer or extension).

thanks again
-- rb157
 
U get I-94 only with I797 approval. By approval in my prev message i meant the I797 approval notice.

U must have got ur visas revalidated based on I-797 approval notice. Did u not get a new I-94 with that I-797?
 
Yes. I did [only I and not my wife]. We travelled after
we got I-797 approved. So, we both got new I-94s when
we returned. Mine had the date expiring in Feb 2004 [based
on when 797 expires]. My wife's tho, wrongly, said October
2001 [when her old visa expired].

So, the sequence of events was:

Feb 2001 - I got a new I-797 expiring in Feb 2004
August - we travelled and got new I94s
October 2001 - her I-94 expires <--------- <problem>
Feb 2002 - we got new Visas without a problem
July 2003 - I notice the problem above :-( when we are filing
for 140/485.

thanks
-- rb157
 
Since her visa is valid - u can get a new I-94 at POE.
U can apply for I-94 alone, in case u have lost a I-94. But i dont think u can file for I-94 alone, when ur previous I-94 had expired.

But since ur wife's I-94 had expired - she has to go out of country and come in again.
Check with ur attorney - as expired I-94 can cause problems.
 
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