Need advice on I-539 - Extension of stay on B2 Non-immigrant visa

A

ajhaveri123

New Member
Hello all,
My mother is an Indian citizen and has a 10 year multiple entry B2 visa for USA. She recently arrived in the US on March 22nd 2011, and was originally scheduled to depart after staying for four months on July22nd 2011. Her I-94 expires on Sept 21st 2011. I decided to buy a new house which wont be ready till September 19th, and I would really like my mother to be here when the house is ready so that we can have a traditional house warming ceremony with all my other extended family in the US. Hence, we filed a I-539 for Extension of stay and the USCIS - Vermont Service Center has received it on June 27th.
I understand that the USCIS can take a while to approve/deny the I-539 application.
My question is that, What if USCIS has not decided on her application and it is still in processing till her original I-94 expires i.e till Sept 21 2011? Can she continue to stay in the US till a decision is made on the application as long as she has applied for an extension? Or does she have to leave the country on/before September 21st? Also, keep in mind that her original I-94 form is with USCIS since they ask for it while filing the I-539.
FYI: She used to be a Permanent Resident until 2010 when she willingly surrendered her permanent residence status since no longer wished to permanently stay in the US.
Any advice/help/suggestion is greatly appreciated.
 
She is allowed to stay until the application is pending with USCIS, regardless of date on current I-94. If denied, you will receive information regarding when is she expected to depart US.
 
when did you file your application? How long did it take to get the receipt notice from VSC?

Thanks
 
hi, i have a similar dilemma, but my question is, will it affect my multiple B2 visa if i waited for the USCIS decision with my expired I-94? will i encounter problems in returning here in the US?
 
That is an excellent question. Logically, it would seem unfair for the applicant to encounter any problems returning to the US for future visits on the same visa. In my case, we have submitted the application well in advance(approx 90 days) before the expiration of I-94. If the I-94 expires while USCIS is backed up in processing these applications, in a perfect world, the applicant should not face any problems in the future. But again, this is the first time I've had to deal with this issue and cannot say anything for sure. May be there is something that I'm missing. Hence looking to get detailed advice from experienced users out here. I'm thinking of giving USCIS Customer Service a call tomorrow. May be they can answer some questions.
 
Hi,
The following immigration forms should be mailed to USCIS lock box facilities rather than directly to USCIS Service Centers:-

I-129F,I-130,I-140,I-526,I-539,I-817.

Applications already en route to the Service Centers will be automatically forwarded to the appropriate lock box for a period of 45 days. After September 17th, packages (including fees) will be returned to the applicant along with a note explaining the new filing instructions.
 
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