H1B, H4 Visa

Hi All,
I have H4 stamping till Dec 2022 and planning to travel to India in September/October. My husband will get H1B extension in June and get new i797 in July. My query is if I don't go for stamping in India and return to US with the existing stamp, will my i94 be extended based on the date of my husband's new i797?
TIA

Hi everyone, I wanted to share my experience.. My current I 797 and H1b visa are valid from July 2019 till July 2022. I went to India in Jan 2020, got my H1b stamped and upon return used global entry kiosk at JFK airport. So I did not have interaction with CBP officer. It was my oversight that I did not check date of validity on I 94. I only checked it in April 2022 as I planning change to different visa. To my shock/Surprise the date of validity was erroneously placed as July 2020(this was not due to expiration of passport). I consulted few different attorneys and they suggested to contact CBP first. I was apprehensive/nervous and therefore took attorney's help.
I took services of an attorney and he emailed CBP on my behalf and they corrected it within 2 days. During my research I found that you can try emailing/calling CBP on your own. Sometimes if a CBP at a particular city does not correct it, you can contact CBP at a different city. You can try this at multiple cities. It might not be a bad idea to taking services of immigration attorney, as they might know local CBP officers in their city, with whom they might have previously worked with. This also helps. But depending on attorney it might cost $$.

Hello,

I shipped my documents for H-1B renewal stamping to the Toronto Consulate via Canada Post on May 9, 2022, and they were delivered to the consulate on May 10, 2022 (as per Canada Post). However, the CEAC STatus tracker still stays "No Status".
Is there any way that I could check with the consulate about the status? I am a Canadian PR, and my previous H-1B stamping was from Calgary.

Did anyone ship their documents around the same time? I'd highly appreciate it if you could share your experience or timelines.

Much thanks in advance.

Hey all,

I wanted to share my experience as I used this forum when I was struggling with this issue. My situation-

I have valid I 797 from July 2019 till July 2022. I traveled to India in Jan 2020 and got my H1b visa stamped. Upon return to US I used the global entry kiosk( did not have a in-person interview with CBP officer). I did not check electronic I 94 at tht time. That was oversight on my part.

In April 2022 I checked electronic I 94 as it was time to extend my visa. To my shock CBP entered wrong date of validity for I 94. Instead of July 2022, they placed July 2020. My passport was valid till 2025, so that was not the reason. It was an error by CBP.

I contacted multiple attorneys and all suggested to contact CBP for correction. I was little apprehensive of outcomes as I 94 expired for more than 1.5 years.

I took services of attorney and he sent an email to CBP and they corrected in 2 days. So it's all sorted. It was a big relief.

I would suggest you can contact CBP directly through email or phone. I would not recommend going in person. You can take services of immigration attorneys if you are little apprehensive like me or if CBP does not correct when you request. The immigration attorneys some times know the local CBP officers in their area, who they previously worked with. This might make things little easy.

Also if one CBP office does not correct the dates, contact other offices in different cities. I was told by attorney he had to sometimes contact multiple CBP offices to get dates corrected.

Hi
My Spouse was in L VISA and It got rejected by USCIS and I am in H1b VISA and he will be back in H4 visa for the family .

As he is filing DS160 for H4 visa ,where exactly he has to mention about rejection in filling DS160 form? Kindly help me please

what are other things to considered?

Thanks in advance

Hi ,

Last week dropped documents at Mumbai consulate and after one week status is showing as refused. does it mean Admin processing?

Hi,

I am applying for H1B visa from Canada and as part of the documents required to be submitted, it says that the passport has to be valid until intended period of stay (as an Indian citizen using the Six month expiration rule). My passport expiration is mid 2024, but the H1B I797B i received has the date until Dec 2022.

Does it mean I cannot be issued a visa because my passport is not valid until period of stay?
It doesnt make any sense to me as its something supposed to happen in 2024 and I can easily renew my passport after reaching USA sometime in the next 2 years.

Can I be denied a H1B visa because of this?
Or should I put all H1B process on hold and apply for a new passport from Canada. In that case, all the documentation done till now as part of H1B (includng DS-160 and Visa application fee) utilizes my current passport number and I dont understand how everything won't be messed up.

Is this a rule with no workaround?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

Candian PR holder, physically staying in Canada for 2+ YRS.

- was on H1 for 9+ yrs, previous stamped in India. No prev. rejection.

Drop box:
- Canada post document delivered: Apr 15
- Status update: Document received Apr 19
- waiting....

Anyone in same boat ?

Hi, I applied for a O1 visa at the US embassy in German on 03/25.
At the end of the interview, the VO gave me an orange slip. He returned my passport to me and only kept my cv and university certificate. No documents required as I understood. He checked the box "your application requires administrative processing and/or additional clearance." anddl said "we keep in touch". So my case is shown now as "refused". What can I do? I am getting nervous.

Hi All,

I am on Work Permit in Canada and not a resident or a citizen living in Vancouver, BC..
I completed my DS160 and was wondering if I can choose the "citizen or permanent resident option" that would qualify me for the H1B visa Interview Waiver Program.

The US travel website mentions

"This new authorization applies to temporary workers applying for H-1, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q visas who meet certain conditions, including that they are applying for a visa in their country of nationality or residence. Under this authority, consular officers have discretion to waive the visa interview requirement for individual petition-based H-1, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q applicants who were previously issued any type of visa, and who have never been refused a visa unless such refusal was overcome or waived, and who have no apparent ineligibility or potential ineligibility"

When I try to schedule a waiver Dropbox, it doesn't take any option for Work Permit rather it requires you to be a citizen or on a Canadian PR. Isn't this contradictory to what the US website mentions?

I called the Vancouver consulate Non Immigrant Visa help desk and they did not agree to the.fact that Work Permit holders can apply for waiver program. They kept asking me if I satisfy all criteria, which I do not because I am not a citizen or on PR.

But, I see few posts here that says people on WP were able to get a waiver. How is this possible?

If I select "citizen or permanent resident" option and provide my Work Permit and any proof of legal residency, as mentioned in travel.gov website, and submit my documents for Dropbox, will my Visa be rejected? Or do they refuse to process it? (I believe refusal to process and rejection of visa are two different things).

What do you advice me to do in this scenario? I got my H1B pick in Nov 2021 and when I tried to create a dummy account to check for In person interview availability, it says the earliest in Nov 3 2022, which is ridiculously long.

What other options do I have? Go back to India and try Dropbox there?

Thanks in advance
Melvin