Visitor Visa Entry Extension - COVID

D

delhiusa

New Member
Hello,

My parents were visiting me in February 2020 and were due to return May 2020 back to their country (India). However due to COVID we decided to file visitor visa extension applications in August 2020 about a week before 6month entry I-94 expiration. I requested extension by the I-539 forms till Feb 2021 i.e. another six months.

The only correspondence we have had from USCIS since submission is for fingerprint appointments in late September which have been completed. No correspondence after that for approval or denial.

  1. Till when can parents stay in the country? If we do not hear from USCIS; is it okay for them to stay past Feb, 2021.
  2. In case the extension request is approved after Feb,2021 - will it be till the requested date of Feb, 2021 or till the date approval notice came in or for a date even after that?
  3. Upon going back to India, parents will be applying for the renewal of their visas as it is expiring. If the extension request decision is not available from USCIS even after return to India, can they apply for B1/B2 visa renewal at the US Embassy in India or would they have to wait until a decision is available?
  4. Can there be any issues with the visa renewal due to the extension of stay?
 
1. They can stay for as long as the application is pending
2. I believe it will be until the requested date
3. yes, they can apply for visas
4. They should bring their EOS receipts to show that they had a pending EOS and did not accrue unlawful presence
 
Re 2. A B visa extension cannot be longer than 6 months and it has to be backdated to start at the end of the previous i94. So if the prior i94 expired in August then the extension will be to whatever date in February is 6 months after that. (For this same reason, I would say that the answer to 1 is that they must leave by then or they will certainly be out of status. I have heard of people filing a second EOS while still awaiting the outcome of the first to try stay longer while avoiding being out of status, I don’t know if these have been successful).

Re 4. There will only be a problem if they have stayed past the previous i94 AND the EOS request is subsequently denied. (Although they will not have accrued unlawful presence during the pending period, in such a case it will still count as overstay and could be a problem for a future visa.)

FYI on other forums people have been reporting getting EOS notifications 5-7 months after applying, it seems very slow at present.
 
Hello there, new here from India. This is my first visit to this forum and glad to have joined this community. We have the Best Study Abroad Consultants in Nagpur where we help with Visa guidance and support. It is the one-stop destination for quality education. Looking forward to this group.
 
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