Wife’s TN renew rejected, what to do?

J

john_canadian

Registered Users (C)
My wife’s TN renew was just rejected. Her I-94 visa already expired last March. We are at a loss and would appreciate any advice.


1. What is the best way to keep her in status?
Her company’s attorney says she is already out of status (even though we haven’t received the TN denial notice yet), and suggested her leaving US and come back on a TD (I am on TN).

2. Which is the better, to appeal or try to get a new TN?

Thanks,

John
 
John,

I didn't understand the phrase " Her I-94 visa already expired last March". Surely it did not take 10 months for this I-129 to be processed and denied? IF this is the case, she needs to quickly go to the border and get a TD. It also means that she has not been in status for 2 or 3 months now -- and working illegally --, as the 240-day grace period has past.

I would be heading to the border wit ha new TN petition, and if this failed, entering on TD. No need to waste time/money on trips.

I would not bother with appeal. If it took this long to deny, imagine the appeal -- and she is already out of status.
 
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nelsona said:
John,

I didn't understand the phrase " Her I-94 visa already expired last March". Surely it did not take 10 months for this I-129 to be processed and denied? IF this is the case, she needs to quickly go to the border and get a TD. It also means that she has not been in status for 2 or 3 months now -- and working illegally --, as the 240-day grace period has past. We thought she is OK to work until the petition notice.

I would be heading to the border wit ha new TN petition, and if this failed, entering on TD. No need to waste time/money on trips.

I would not bother with appeal. If it took this long to deny, imagine the appeal -- and she is already out of status.
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Thank you, nelsona.

Yes, her last TN petition (the one that was denied) indeed took 12 month, thanks to her company HR who made some mistakes (forgot to sign the petition letter and form). We thought it's OK to work until the petition notice come back.

Yes, we are working on the TD visa now. One question: For the marriage certificate, is the church-issued Marriage Record good enough for the TD purpose?
 
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john_canadian said:
Thank you, nelsona.
For the marriage certificate, is the church-issued Marriage Record good enough for the TD purpose?
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Not sure what it's like for the TD, but for AOS and such you need the official Marriage document, not the one you get from the church. I would think they would need the actual copy. You should be able to re-order that if you've lost it though...
 
john_canadian said:
Yes, her last TN petition (the one that was denied) indeed took 12 month, thanks to her company HR who made some mistakes (forgot to sign the petition letter and form). We thought it's OK to work until the petition notice come back.
Click to expand...

Please tell me that the petition was filed before the I-94 expired.
 
As TRC is implying, if this I-129 was not timely sent, and the denial is on that basis, you could be looking at 10 months out of status, since there was no grace period, which is permanent bar territory.

But, even if it was timely sent, your grace priod was only 240 days, and thus she is now working illegally and accumulating days of illegal presence. It wouldn't matter why the I-129 is denied or what happenned along the way, once the 240 days passed, the I-129 was of little value in providing status.

This should have been communicated to your wife by her lawyer, and steps should have been taken months ago to go to the border and get a new TN.


That said, at this point I wouln't waste me time going to get a TD (you can't get a TD or a TN by mail at this point since she is no longer in status), and would instead try to get a TN at the border. If it is then denied, she can easily get a TD, with a marriage certificate.


I'm wondering what the reluctance was in the first place in just going to the border and getting a TN sometime in the last 12 months. It's almost unimaginable how one would stay in US for an entire year.
 
nelsona said:
As TRC is implying, if this I-129 was not timely sent, and the denial is on that basis, you could be looking at 10 months out of status, since there was no grace period, which is permanent bar territory.

But, even if it was timely sent, your grace priod was only 240 days, and thus she is now working illegally and accumulating days of illegal presence. It wouldn't matter why the I-129 is denied or what happenned along the way, once the 240 days passed, the I-129 was of little value in providing status.

This should have been communicated to your wife by her lawyer, and steps should have been taken months ago to go to the border and get a new TN.


That said, at this point I wouln't waste me time going to get a TD (you can't get a TD or a TN by mail at this point since she is no longer in status), and would instead try to get a TN at the border. If it is then denied, she can easily get a TD, with a marriage certificate.


I'm wondering what the reluctance was in the first place in just going to the border and getting a TN sometime in the last 12 months. It's almost unimaginable how one would stay in US for an entire year.
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Last Oct., my wife indeed went to see a lawyer as the immigration officer was asking for signature missing in the petition form her employer filed. But the lawyer didn't say a thing about the time-limit after the I-04 expired. Even today when I told my employer's lawyer about my wife situation, they did not provide much information. It is on this board that I first heard about the 240 day limit.
 
Its time to get rid of the lawyer.

Get a new letter, from the company, check that it has everything you need (from your own knowledgegained on this board -- which is more than the lawyer has) and go to the border to get new TN. This is what should have been done 6 months ago.

Be sure to take everything asociated with the failed I-129, to show that her status only expired after 240 days, not before.

I trust she has stopped working.
 
nelsona said:
Its time to get rid of the lawyer.

Get a new letter, from the company, check that it has everything you need (from your own knowledgegained on this board -- which is more than the lawyer has) and go to the border to get new TN. This is what should have been done 6 months ago.

Be sure to take everything asociated with the failed I-129, to show that her status only expired after 240 days, not before.

I trust she has stopped working.
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Yes my wife has a new laywer who seems much better.
Yes my wife stopped working about two weeks ago after finding out the TN petition has failed.

It is amazing that there is this board and people come to the board to help each other out.



One more question. Is there any danger that my wife will be barred from enterring US now that she is out of status and her TN visa has been denied?
 
This sounds like the I-94 was rejected on a technicality - no signature and the I-94 which was now expired. My question is, did your wife send out the I-94 or assume the lawyer and/or HR department did it? Most HR departments are concerned with workers comp and labour issues and making sure the right forms are filled out for the county and state. Federal stuff is usually limited to social security and IRS issues. I'm worried that it actually never got sent until the last minute and it was now too late.

Do you have the final denial reason? Do you have a receipt number? Go to the USCIS website and go see the online case status. You can punch in the receipt number (assuming you have it) and it should tell you why it was denied.

How do you know it was denied? From a phone call? How? This all seems rather unorthodox.
 
simsd said:
This sounds like the I-94 was rejected on a technicality - no signature and the I-94 which was now expired. My question is, did your wife send out the I-94 or assume the lawyer and/or HR department did it? Most HR departments are concerned with workers comp and labour issues and making sure the right forms are filled out for the county and state. Federal stuff is usually limited to social security and IRS issues. I'm worried that it actually never got sent until the last minute and it was now too late.

Do you have the final denial reason? Do you have a receipt number? Go to the USCIS website and go see the online case status. You can punch in the receipt number (assuming you have it) and it should tell you why it was denied.

How do you know it was denied? From a phone call? How? This all seems rather unorthodox.
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I can only guess the reason for rejection is that the company HR forgot something again. The HR attitude has been "why do you both me to renew your TN year after year", which is not helpful.


We are still waiting for the denial notice, three weeks after finding out that the TN petition had been denied on the internet.
 
I would have been at the border 2 and half weeks ago with a new TN application.

Is there something you are not following in this thread??

Forget the old petition!!!
 
nelsona said:
I would have been at the border 2 and half weeks ago with a new TN application.

Is there something you are not following in this thread??

Forget the old petition!!!
Click to expand...

My wife's attoney is insisting on waiting for the denial notice, which we havn't received yet.

But my wife got her TD visa this past weekend, after dragging the two kids all the way to and back from Buffalo.

This really sucks.
 
john_canadian said:
My wife's attoney is insisting on waiting for the denial notice, which we havn't received yet.
Click to expand...

If a denial notice gets issued by USCIS but no one is there to receive it, is it still a denial?

Yes, and illegal presence accumulates from the date of denial, whether you receive it or not!

But my wife got her TD visa this past weekend, after dragging the two kids all the way to and back from Buffalo.
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Good.
 
Ditto to nelsona. This thread is not going anywhere. I feel like we're banging our heads against a wall.
 
Yes, and illegal presence accumulates from the date of denial, whether you receive it or not!
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Actually, because the 240 days had lapsed, days were already being counted BEFORE the denial.
 
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