Urgent | No I-94 with I-797 - Pls help me.

[Byech]

Hi,
I came to US through employer A in Jan 2006. My H1 Visa, petition and I94 (issued at POE) are valid till Mar 2008. Recently I did a H1 trasfer from employer A to B and the I-129 Petition transfer is approved with the validity date starting from Jun 2007 and ending at Jun 2010. But I-797 does not have I-94. And I have few questions:

1. As I did not receive I-94 along with I-797, is it ok to start working for the employer B?. I am planning to join empolyer B next week.

2. I believe I can work for employer as I have a I-94 valid upto Mar 2008. And my understanding is I have to go out of US before Mar 2008 to get Visa stamped and then reneter. Am I correct?.

3. Is there any way to get the new I-94 with the date extended upto Jun 2010 so that I don't need to go out of the country before Mar 2008?.

Please help me by answering these questions. THANKS a lot in advance.

 

[Rtech]

1. As I did not receive I-94 along with I-797, is it ok to start working for the employer B?. I am planning to join empolyer B next week.

--- You can work for employer B as long as you have valid I-797 from "B". I don's know about I-94.

2. I believe I can work for employer as I have a I-94 valid upto Mar 2008. And my understanding is I have to go out of US before Mar 2008 to get Visa stamped and then reneter. Am I correct?.

---As long as you have the valid I-797 from employer B you can work till the end of it's validity. You need a visa only if you want to go to your home country in between your validy period.

3. Is there any way to get the new I-94 with the date extended upto Jun 2010 so that I don't need to go out of the country before Mar 2008?.

--I don't know about this. Please find out from senior members.

 

[DSLstart]

You don't have to leave US even if your I-94 is expired, provided your petition for extension of stay (in your case new H1B) has been approved. You'd receive new I-94 when you go out of country for visa stamping and renter US

1. As I did not receive I-94 along with I-797, is it ok to start working for the employer B?. I am planning to join empolyer B next week.

--- You can work for employer B as long as you have valid I-797 from "B". I don's know about I-94.

2. I believe I can work for employer as I have a I-94 valid upto Mar 2008. And my understanding is I have to go out of US before Mar 2008 to get Visa stamped and then reneter. Am I correct?.

---As long as you have the valid I-797 from employer B you can work till the end of it's validity. You need a visa only if you want to go to your home country in between your validy period.

3. Is there any way to get the new I-94 with the date extended upto Jun 2010 so that I don't need to go out of the country before Mar 2008?.

--I don't know about this. Please find out from senior members.

 

[manwithnoname]

For Byech

The I-797 approval notice should contain the new I-94 (that replaces the current one) at the bottom right corner. You have to tear that along the perforation and staple it to your passport. In case it doesn't then you might have received the courtesy copy. Ask your employer/lawyer for the original approval notice. Remaining questions were already answered.

 

[vanand1]

Please help me!!!!!

I transfered my H1B last year. I do not have my new I-94 with I 797 and I am getting lot of issues when I try to change my driving license from state to state. Please help me to get my new I-94.
Is there any other ways to get my new I-94?

 

[snugjoint]

There is a difference between "petition approval" and "extension of stay approval." Just because you have an approval doesn't mean you can start working for a new H-1B employer without going outside the U.S. and get a visa revalidated first. Having a replacement I-94 is important. If your I-797A (original, not the "courtesy copy") doesn't contain a tear-off portion of replacement I-94, there must be some language within the I-797 saying that you need to go through visa stamping first and which consulate has been notified of your visa application. If the only thing that lacks from your I-797 is a replacement I-94 and the rest of the I-797 sounds like your extension of stay was approved, you can file I-824 with USCIS to get a correct I-797 though this process takes some time. If it is truly an administrative error, you do not have to pay $340 filing fee for I-824.