I-94 Expired and Visa stamping on Passport expired, But I-797 is valid

[chr_mohan]

Please help me in fixing the below issue,
I entered USA (first time) on H1B with Employer - A (with visa stamped on passport by US consulate in Home country), changed to Employer B (No visa stamped as of now). New H1B was approved and I received new I-797 with I-94 valid till Feb 2011. Recently I visited home country . While coming back, I DID NOT show my new employer's I-797 at POE. They gave me I-94 that was valid till 30th Sep 2009 - same as the validity date of Employer-A's Visa. How ever I still have the I-94 that I received with new employer's I-797. Please help me in knowing if
1. The I-94 that I received with my new employer's I-797 is still valid? If not,
2. Am I out of status?
3. How can I get my I-94 updated or re-issued?

Thanks in advance.

[shervin143]

While coming back, I DID NOT show my new employer's I-797 at POE. They gave me I-94 that was valid till 30th Sep 2009 - same as the validity date of Employer-A's Visa.

>>>> Why in the world will you do that when you already have a new approval notice that is valid till Feb 2011? Makes absolutely no sense.


1. The I-94 that I received with my new employer's I-797 is still valid? If not,

>>>> The I-94 that came with your I-797 is no longer valid. You were supposed to hand it over at the airport when you left the country. The I-797 approval notice would clearly state "Detach this I-94 and attach it to the one in your passport." You were supposed to return both the I-94's (The one that came your approval notice and the old I-94 that you received when you first entered U.S) at the airport when you were leaving U.S.


2. Am I out of status?

>>>> You are not out of status. But you are accumulating illegal presence in the country since your I-94 expired on September 30th 2009 (The last issued I-94 takes precedence over everything).


3. How can I get my I-94 updated or re-issued?

>>>> Leave the country and re-enter with a new I-94 or check with your nearest Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office to see if you can get an extended I-94. You need to do it immediately. You are already accumulating illegal stay.

[chr_mohan]

I-94 Expired and Visa stamping on Passport expired, But I-797 is valid

Many thanks for the details and your time Shervin.

I visited the immigration authority at Airport (POE) and they suggested me to meet US CIS local office. They also mentioned that I am out of status.

How ever, when I visited US CIS local office, they said that the status is valid and asked to submit the I-94 that was sent by USICS with the new I-797 while travelling abroad next time. I am confused..

I have my license valid till 2011 and hence can not apply for a new license, so that they verify the status at DMV.

Is there a better way to verify my actual status?

[txh1b]

Please help me in fixing the below issue,
I entered USA (first time) on H1B with Employer - A (with visa stamped on passport by US consulate in Home country), changed to Employer B (No visa stamped as of now). New H1B was approved and I received new I-797 with I-94 valid till Feb 2011. Recently I visited home country . While coming back, I DID NOT show my new employer's I-797 at POE. They gave me I-94 that was valid till 30th Sep 2009 - same as the validity date of Employer-A's Visa. How ever I still have the I-94 that I received with new employer's I-797. Please help me in knowing if
1. The I-94 that I received with my new employer's I-797 is still valid? If not,
2. Am I out of status?
3. How can I get my I-94 updated or re-issued?

Thanks in advance.

1. No
2. Yes
3. Go to POE and get a new I-94 issued or travel and return immediately. Do not accumulate illegal status days. Your work and status is currently illegal as the last action from your white I-94 is what matters. The other one that you got with the I797 was already closed when you left the country as the I-94 numbers are the same.

[kalyanramy]

Hi Mohan,
what did you do with your case? have you visited India or got your I-94 fixed in the US itself?

[G_K]

Please help me in fixing the below issue,
I entered USA (first time) on H1B with Employer - A (with visa stamped on passport by US consulate in Home country), changed to Employer B (No visa stamped as of now). New H1B was approved and I received new I-797 with I-94 valid till Feb 2011. Recently I visited home country . While coming back, I DID NOT show my new employer's I-797 at POE. They gave me I-94 that was valid till 30th Sep 2009 - same as the validity date of Employer-A's Visa. How ever I still have the I-94 that I received with new employer's I-797. Please help me in knowing if
1. The I-94 that I received with my new employer's I-797 is still valid? If not,
2. Am I out of status?
3. How can I get my I-94 updated or re-issued?

Thanks in advance.

I think you meant Feb 2012 (not Feb 2011)

[shervin143]

Did you check the date on which that question was posted and responded back?

I think you meant Feb 2012 (not Feb 2011)

[siva_0805]

I think you meant Feb 2012 (not Feb 2011)

No Issue If your I797 is valid.. But go to POE or Deferred Inspection Station, get the new I94 by explaining the situation..Very Simple if you have valid I797..

In My Case, My I94 date was with my old visa stamped on password. After 12 days of I94 expiry only , i checked it and went to Deferred Inspection Station at Los Angeles and got my new I94 valid extended as per my I797 valid date..

Instead of going to POE,, Better plan for Deferred Inspection Station which i feel it will be easily to get ..

[Info@123]

I-94 Expired and Visa stamping on Passport expired, But I-797 is valid

Having I-94 expired and discovering the same after expiry can be shocking and stressful. Even though i do not wish anyone faces this issue but here is some information for reference, there are solutions for this problem but there are risks involved :

The last action rule states that the latest I-94 card which could be either the white card that you get on immigration at port of entry OR the I-94 on I-797A supersedes everything else. This means if your I-797 A ->I-94 is valid till say Oct 2013 and was issued in Jan 2012. You traveled internationally in Apr-2012 then while re-entering US you got the I-94 stamped till only Oct-2012 (Due to any reason like because of existing visa stamped till Oct 2012). Then the latest I-94 i.e. till Oct 2012 supersedes everything.

1. First of all if you have an extension you must always show that on re-entering USA so that officer could grant the expiry date as per extension on white I-94.
2. If due to any reason the date on I-94 does not match I-797 A then request for correction within time (much before expiry) by contacting CBP office or apply for H1-extension before this I-94 expires.
3. If I-94 has expired then you are accumulating illegal stay. An illegal stay beyond 180 days will lead to 3 year ban and beyond 1 year will lead to 10 years ban on entering US. It is best in this situation to contact a good immigration attorney immediately before departing US who could provide best alternative solutions.
4. The attorney will suggest based on your case whether you should go to CBP and request for correction of I-94 OR to file for H1-Extension with Nunc pro tunc. Sometimes - try CBP and if it does not work try for extension.
5. All the decisions are based on the discretion of authorities.

It is good to read online and learn from other's experiences but whenever in doubt and worst of all in such situations you must consult an Attorney and not leave it to your own judgement. Too many things can go wrong and the matter should not be treated casually. The attorney's would know the best how to appeal for the situation. And the rest lies in the hands of CBP or USCIS.

Please note i am not an attorney or legal person and the information provided above is just for reference to the best of my knowledge.

[Upasna Wilson Khokhar]

same i94 out of status inspite of valid 797

We had lot of problem all together

Problem no. 1) I-94 was looking out of status
Problem no. 2) visa stamping expired
Problem no. 3) Passport was soon to expire in 5 months
Problem no. 4) Canadian visa was also expired
Problem no. 5) For traveling back to India we could not take UK countries as stopover

My husband had same issue recently, he had a visa stamp of previous employer and while coming back to US, he somehow missed to show his new petition.
While filing I-140 he realised he was out of status, soon we asked attorney for an advice. He asked us to either contact customs or go back for stamping, As my husband passport was expiring in 6 months, the first thing we would do after going india was to reissue passport. It was another pain. It would take ages.
Before going to India we wanted to try our luck here, We live in Columbus Ohio, so we went to POE customs of Columbus, But the officers completely denied the request, they were rude and did not listen anything, so we tried to call Cincinnati Deferred site Custom and border protection, they gave us an email id and asked us to send us our complete query, we did it and they corrected it in 3 days.
We are so thankful to the Cinci CBP site to take us out of this mess.

[singhanianilesh]

How long was it expired

We had lot of problem all together

Problem no. 1) I-94 was looking out of status
Problem no. 2) visa stamping expired
Problem no. 3) Passport was soon to expire in 5 months
Problem no. 4) Canadian visa was also expired
Problem no. 5) For traveling back to India we could not take UK countries as stopover

My husband had same issue recently, he had a visa stamp of previous employer and while coming back to US, he somehow missed to show his new petition.
While filing I-140 he realised he was out of status, soon we asked attorney for an advice. He asked us to either contact customs or go back for stamping, As my husband passport was expiring in 6 months, the first thing we would do after going india was to reissue passport. It was another pain. It would take ages.
Before going to India we wanted to try our luck here, We live in Columbus Ohio, so we went to POE customs of Columbus, But the officers completely denied the request, they were rude and did not listen anything, so we tried to call Cincinnati Deferred site Custom and border protection, they gave us an email id and asked us to send us our complete query, we did it and they corrected it in 3 days.
We are so thankful to the Cinci CBP site to take us out of this mess.

My wife has the exact same problem though my i-94 is ok. CBP has asked me to wait while they investigate my case. Can you please answer one quick question. How long was it after you realized you i-94 has already expired? Did you have to do anything after CBP fixed the issue.

[prem24118]

CBP / Deffered inspection site

My wife has the exact same problem though my i-94 is ok. CBP has asked me to wait while they investigate my case. Can you please answer one quick question. How long was it after you realized you i-94 has already expired? Did you have to do anything after CBP fixed the issue.

I had a similar issue, where i-94 was for older company. Went to Customs and Border Protection in Indianapolis. Very helpful officers sorted it out within 15 min and was reflected online. But my old company h1-b still had close to 3 months before expiry. SO depends on how far off you have been from the i-94 expiry as well as the officer you encounter - i would say

[lifespring]

Please help, I also have the expired I94 that I didn't realize.
How long you had expired I94? And please help me how to find the "Deferred site Custom and border protection" office in our location (VA)

We had lot of problem all together

Problem no. 1) I-94 was looking out of status
Problem no. 2) visa stamping expired
Problem no. 3) Passport was soon to expire in 5 months
Problem no. 4) Canadian visa was also expired
Problem no. 5) For traveling back to India we could not take UK countries as stopover

My husband had same issue recently, he had a visa stamp of previous employer and while coming back to US, he somehow missed to show his new petition.
While filing I-140 he realised he was out of status, soon we asked attorney for an advice. He asked us to either contact customs or go back for stamping, As my husband passport was expiring in 6 months, the first thing we would do after going india was to reissue passport. It was another pain. It would take ages.
Before going to India we wanted to try our luck here, We live in Columbus Ohio, so we went to POE customs of Columbus, But the officers completely denied the request, they were rude and did not listen anything, so we tried to call Cincinnati Deferred site Custom and border protection, they gave us an email id and asked us to send us our complete query, we did it and they corrected it in 3 days.
We are so thankful to the Cinci CBP site to take us out of this mess.

[lifespring]

Prem, Did you I94 expired when you contacted the office? If yes, for how long?

I had a similar issue, where i-94 was for older company. Went to Customs and Border Protection in Indianapolis. Very helpful officers sorted it out within 15 min and was reflected online. But my old company h1-b still had close to 3 months before expiry. SO depends on how far off you have been from the i-94 expiry as well as the officer you encounter - i would say

[Vinit1983]

Help for reinstate my dependent (Wife and Daughter) I-94 status

Hi Guys

I am currently seeking help to reinstate my dependent (Wife and Daughter) I-94 status.

Let me explain the situation in detail

First time I was enter in US on H1B visa sponsored by Employer A in November 2013 and later my dependent enter on H4 VISA sponsored by Employer A after 5 Month in April 2014. Since then I was working with Employer A till December 2014 and then I switch my employer B in December 2014. Employer B transferred my H1B VISA along with my dependent H4 VISA. I am still working with Employer B but on my passport and my dependent passport still have the Employer A sponsored VISA stamp which was valid till September 2015 which is expired now but we all have the approved I-797 document which is valid till November 2016. Last year my dependents visited India due to some urgent Parental Medical condition in April 2015 and came back in June 2015 by that time Employer A Visa stamp was Valid on my dependent passport and CBP office allowed them to enter based on the VISA stamp status on the password but unfortunately he did not ask new I-797 document at port of entry or I would say my wife carrying new I-797 document but forget to preset document to CBP office during US entry. CBP office give her I-94 based on the Passport Visa stamp stats which was valid September 2015. We were under the assumption that as long as we have approved valid I-797 document me and my family will be in legal status. Now we realize that my both dependents are currently out of status for approx. 9 months.

Could you please help me to suggest the way forward to address this issue and come out the current situation and suggest me what all the possible way to address this issue?

Appreciate your timely help on this issue.