RFE on Proof of maintenance of non immigrant status

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rs_nyuser

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Gurus

Can someone please guide me in right direction. We have received a RFE on my wife's 485 petition. Officer has directed to submit all the stamped pages of passports. All approved visas and all I-94 copies ever since she has been here (about 8 years). My wife went to India earlier 2-3 times and got the visa stamped there based on my H1B. We never applied for H4 until last(recent) 3 years and hence have no copies of I-94 with us. Will it be a big problem. Has someone faced the same RFE any help will be appreciated.

Please help.
Thanks in advance.
 
Can you please clarify? What was her status before you guys applied for her H4 then? What do you mean by "got the visa stamped there based on my H1B" if she wasn't on H4 back then?

rs_nyuser said:
My wife went to India earlier 2-3 times and got the visa stamped there based on my H1B
[...]
We never applied for H4 until last(recent) 3 years and hence have no copies of I-94 with us.
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She has always been on H4. What i meant was when she first came to us we got it stamped in india based on my H1B and similarly when she went back to india 1 yr. down the line, we had it stamped based my renewed H1B again. but i do not happen to have copy of her I-94 from her those two entries. since we never file a H4 petiotion for her in us i do not have any visa copy either.
 
Something is missing here. You say she has been in the US for 8 years but only applied for an H4 three years ago? What is the full story? What did she enter with 8 years ago? Do you have the most recent I-94?

It is stupid and unreasonable for them to ask for previous I-94s, as they know you're supposed to give them up when leaving the country (which also means USCIS should have them), and once it's given up it is not logical to expect people to maintain copies of it. Hopefully the arrival stamps in the passport will satisfy them.
 
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She has always been here on a H4. Never out of status. It's just that she got it stamped whenever she went back to india and good olden days did not require a H4 petition. They stamped based on my H1B itself. It's only when my 6 years completed we filed for her H4 petition along with my H1b as we were not planning on going to India for a while.

I totally agree that it is stupid on there part to ask for that as we did not keep a copy of I-94s. I hope the stamps satisfies them.
 
rs_nyuser said:
she got it stamped whenever she went back to india and good olden days did not require a H4 petition. They stamped based on my H1B itself.
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So you should still be able to provide copies of the visa stamp. The lack of I-94 is going to be a problem. This is why I suggest that every I-94 you get, make a photocopy and keep it safe. You never know when you are going to need it.
 
Your query is confusing. When she entered US with a visa stamp there should be an expiry date on the I-94. right? So I guess when you say she was always on H-4, I presume that you renewed her H-4 petition before the expiry date and got a fresh I-797, right? It is not that stamp on the passport which is going to be the problem. If you don't have paperwork(i-797 with a fresh i-94 for the new expiry date) for stay beyond the expiry date on the passport that i what is going to be the problem.
 
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Relax , it's normal for H4 to H1B case

Nothing to worry about as u urself mentioned she was never out of status.this
is a normal enquiry for H4 to H1b case.U are not expected to keep copy of previous I94.Just make a sequence of the status in paper and attach it to other paper. Confusion comes about the date of H1B start date. So assuming she worked after getting her H1b , then mention the D of emplyement along with a letter of emplyment.It happened in my wife's case.We were worried but latter lawyer explained .
Hope it will help.




rs_nyuser said:
She has always been on H4. What i meant was when she first came to us we got it stamped in india based on my H1B and similarly when she went back to india 1 yr. down the line, we had it stamped based my renewed H1B again. but i do not happen to have copy of her I-94 from her those two entries. since we never file a H4 petiotion for her in us i do not have any visa copy either.
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Just send in copies of her entire passport including every page, and explain that she didn't keep photocopies of her previous I-94 cards obtained at POE. Should be OK. The most important I-94 is the one she used to enter the US the last time, which you should have.

It is a good idea to keep copies of every piece of immigration paper, especially I-94 and I-797. You just never know.
 
Since she never received I-797 for H-4 before her current H-4visa, you should be fine as long as you are sure that she never over stayed on her I-94. But anyways, I thought USCIS only cares about status since last port of entry. If she is in status from her last port of entry she should be fine. They also forgive 180 days of out of status for genuine reasons since last port of entry. This should be their regular processing approach. Don't worry too much that what they said on paper. Simply say I do not have I-94 copies for her and here are her passport stamps.

rs_nyuser said:
She has always been here ona H4. Never out of status. It's just that she got it stamped whenever she went back to india and good olden days did not require a H4 petition. They stamped based on my H1B itself. It's only when my 6 years completed we filed for her H4 petition along with my H1b as we were not planning on going to India for a while.

I totally agree that it is stupid on there part to ask for that as we did not keep a copy of I-94s. I hope the stamps satisfies them.
Click to expand...
 
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