Spouse I-94 expired

rcodavali

Registered Users (C)
My H1-B expired on Feb 20th 2003 so did my wife’s I-94. I filed for my H1-B extension and its receipt with BCIS date is Jan 13th 2003 but still did not receive the approval.

My lawyer says my wife is out of status since Feb 20th 2003, as her I-94 is expired and we should have filed her I-94 extension at the time of my H1-B extension petition. Is this true? Please explain your answer.

I cleared my LC for Green Card and my lawyer says I cannot file for I-140/I-485 since my H1-B is still not approved. Is this true? Please explain your answer.

My lawyer says my wife has to ‘get a new visa by going out of the country’ OR ‘apply for her I-94 extension’ within 180 days after the expiration of her I-94 to stay in status and this could be done only if I receive my H1-B approval. And he also says if this does not happen we are both out of luck. Is this true? Please explain your answer.

He says that He cannot file for I-140/I-485 till my wife is in status (as per above paragraph). Is this true?

He says my only option is upgrade my H1-B extension petition to premium processing and pray that both the tasks (H1-B extension approved and her visa will be renewed) will be done before 180 days of my wife’s I-94 expiration (which is 60 days from now) and till then He cannot proceed with my I-140/I-485 application. Is this true?

The problem I see here is I did no mistake and no delay in any kind of application/petitions, but still in a fix. (If I did a mistake please tell me where?)
 
Your lawyer is right. Your wife should have applied for I-94 extension. I-94 controls your permit to stay in US

Your green card won't be an issue but your wife's may be an issue. I think you should definetly upgrade to Premium processing.


Make sure she is not out of status for more than 180 days continously otherwise She will face a 3 year bar.

There is something called Nunc Pro Tunc for I-94 renewal by going back in time. I am not sure how it works. Get a good lawyer. They can helpyou with that. This is really important.
Also check if your wife will qualify for 245i
 
Top