I-94 issues and h4/h1 visa revalidation issues

R

raj_kumar197420

New Member
I am on an H1-B visa and the I-797 approval notice is valid until Jan/2005(my 6 year term is also going to be expired by Jan/2005) and it is from the company ABC. My wife is on H4 Visa. As of now the visa stamped on my and my wife's passport is from my previous employer XYZ(I worked for XYZ till Feb/2002) and it is valid till March/2004, so I sent my passport and my wife's passport in March/2004 to INS to get them revalidated. I enlosed my I-797 but did not enclose the H-4 approval for my wife since she does not have one with the new compnay ABC...all she had was from my old company XYZ. My new employer always said that she does not need a new H-4. He always said the H-4 status is valid as long as H-1 is valid.

Me and my wife left for India in May/2002 for vacation and returned back in June/2002 to USA. At the port of entry, by sheer ignorance the authorities stamped the validity date on my I-94 and my wife's I-94 as March/2004 which was actually my visa validity date. It should have been stamped as Jan/2005 which is my I-797 validity date. I never even noticed this all these days(my fault!).

I did not think about this until May/2004 and now we do not even have our passports with us since we sent them for visa revalidation. I sent them end of March/2004...so expecting them to be sent to us anytime. I am not sure if the INS would revalidate my visa or reject it since the passports have an expired I-94. I am not sure if they will be convinced enough to see the valid I-797 and will stamp the visas on the passports or reject them? Also, we need to correct the validity dates on the I-94's on our passports.. I found out that Customs and Border Protection Bureau(CBPB) would correct the I-94 dates. But what I am not sure is how we will be treated since we do not have valid I-94s(even though this is not our mistake...and strictly speaking the validity date should have been Jan/2005...But I am feeling guilty that I also made a mistake on my part by not noticing this all these days)..

Please give me ideas as to how to approach the CBPB.

I am thinking of withdrawing our revalidation applications from INS...

Also, I am planning to send my wife to india now so that she can get her H4 revalidated there....but the problem is while she is leaving USA, she will have to handle her I-94 to the authorities and I am worried that she might have a problem because the I-94 has expired on March/2004. Also, when she goes to the Indian consulatate in chennai, she would have a problem since she would be questioned...why she extended her stay beyond the marchh/2004 dead line. Willl she be denied a visa revalidation in india?

Please advice.

Thanks,
Raj kumar.
 
do not withdraw from state department. In one case they even issued a new visa even thought there was an expired I-94. wait for the passports. then call CBP in the area of your landing... talk to a inspections officer and they can look up your records while on the phone. get an appt and have it corrected..... should not be an issue. wrong I-94 date's have become too common now. do not leave the country with an expired I-94
 
What does an expired I-94 have to do with anything as long as you have an I-797??? My I-94 expires this June but I recently got an H-1B extension until end of next year. I also had my passport stamped with a VISA until end of next year but because I did it in Canada (driving) they did not take or update my I-94.

Anyway, as long as I have my valid I-797/VISA what the hell does it matter if the I-94 is expired? This has to be a common occurance...just because you get a new H-1B doesn't mean you HAVE to leave the country and return to get a new I-94. That's a load of crap. That's why they ask you to tear off that little card from your I-797 and staple it to your current I-94. This extends the expiration of the I-94 to the expiration of the I-797.

No worries.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
tnadkarni,
be certain you have the right answers. The officer stamped a wrong date on the I-94.

I-797 is an approval for a petition(does not govern your stay validity)
VISA has a validity date for entry to the country.
I-94 decides your validity date. You should not be staying in the country after the I-94 expires unless you have an extension of stay petition in progress.
 
tnadkarni said:
What does an expired I-94 have to do with anything as long as you have an I-797??? My I-94 expires this June but I recently got an H-1B extension until end of next year. I also had my passport stamped with a VISA until end of next year but because I did it in Canada (driving) they did not take or update my I-94.
Click to expand...
When he left US, the I-94 supplied with the 797 must (should) have been surrendred. So When he comes back in US, the new I-94 governs the stay irrespective of any status.

When you got your new 797 you got a new I-94 which superseeds the one supplied to you at POE and hence U are fine.
Anyway, as long as I have my valid I-797/VISA what the hell does it matter if the I-94 is expired? This has to be a common occurance...just because you get a new H-1B doesn't mean you HAVE to leave the country and return to get a new I-94. That's a load of crap. That's why they ask you to tear off that little card from your I-797 and staple it to your current I-94. This extends the expiration of the I-94 to the expiration of the I-797.

No worries.
Click to expand...

This is not a common occurance. The orgininal poster definetly needs to resolve the issue (Not - No worries)
 
I apologize it looks like I misread the original post...

He was on a I-797 and when he left the country they took, obviously, any I-94s on his passport (including the one that came with his I-797). Then when he re-entered the country they gave him a new I-94 with a validity date of his VISA rather than the I-797.

So he now has a I-797 valid until 2005 but a I-94 that has expired?

You're saying this is different for me because when I got my I-797 they extended my current I-94 until the expiration of my I-797, right?

This is all confusing but it does seem like the original poster needs to get this corrected.

Sorry for my earlier post...I was and still am a little confused.
:confused: :confused:
 
The first problem Raj Kumar had was that either he (& his spouse) should have latest H1 (& H4) stamped in his (& her) passport or HE should have shown latest I-797 at POE. I-94 date is governed by either latest visa stamped in the passport of latest I-797.

The second problem he had was he didn't apply for H4 extension for his wife. If spouse is already in USA then H1 holder is suppose to apply I-539 for H4 extension and with it's approval comes I-797 with new I-94 (attached at bottom) for H4 holder.

Now as he already sent their passport for H1/H4 revalidation in march, best bet is to wait for passport to come with revalidation as PASHWIN said and then approach CBP for I-94 correction. He need to get I-94 corected ASAP once he gets his passport back from revalidation.

For TNADKARNI: I-94 expiration date is the one which makes your stay valid/invalid. Visa is only for the purpose of entry. For you it's not a problem as you got new I-94 with new approval I-797. (Almost) Everyone get new I-94 with H1/H4 transfer/extension approval notice I-797.
 
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