H4 & I94 Expired 10 days back

[guesssmart]

Me & my wife came to U.S on 'A' company. I am on H1 and my wife is on H4 status. I moved to 'B' company last year, they have filled for my H1 and got approved. So, I got the new I797 and with that the new I94 from the 'B' company. I was under the impression that my wife can legally stay here on H4as I got my H1 approved from 'B' company last year.

We planned to leave to Mexico very soon for our visa extension, so that we both can have new visas from company 'B'. To my surprise both our visas from the previous company got expired 10 days back, hopefully I am on status as I have my company 'B' approval and with that the new I94 for 2 more years from today.

My main concern is my wife status, she is not on status any more and we can not leave to neighbouring country for extension as her U.S visa is now expired. On reading thru many forums I realised that I need to apply for her I539 immediately, will this be O.K for me to apply for her I539 and wait for its approval (in the next 4 to 5 months, as its taking that long). My main concern is will her visa extension (I539) be approved as we missed it by a very short period of time of 10 days, and can she stay here with no problem in future.

Please sugest me on this or give me an alternative.

Thanks
Praveen

[waitin_toolong]

Actually you have no recourse then sending her back to home country immediately for a new stamp, as you are required to extend a status before it expires.

But you can write a cover leeter and file extension immediately.
Do it today.

[Shreehari]

Similar situation but still valid is that OK to apply only in time

I have a similar situation but I still have 15 days and I am applying now for H4. My question is, Is that OK to stay in US, even if approval is in proccess but applied in time.
Please reply.
Thanks

[waitin_toolong]

as long as it gets to USCIS before expiry you are fine.

[Shreehari]

Thanks!!

Thanks Waitin_toolong for the information.
Shreehari

[guesssmart]

eFiling of I-539 -- Covering letter Advice

I have done eFiling of I-539 yesterday for my wifes H4 extension and I am yet to post the supported documents. Could some one please advice me on what do I need to mention on the covering letter, as I have efilled the extension on the 10 th day after I94 and Visa expiry.

Also, can any one know how long will this process take, and will such cases get a positive approval.

Thanks

[guesssmart]

I 797 got approved after H4 Visa and I94 Expired

We realised on Aug 15th that my wifes H4 & I94 expired on Aug 08, so she was out of status for the past 1 week. I have my H1 approval from new company for another 2 yrs, so I consulted the lawyer and he gave me two options.

1. Either to go back to India and get new stamping OR
2. To file an extension immediately with a covering letter stating the reasons for delay and asking them to approve the petition from the date of her expired I94 & Visa [which was Aug 08, so that she would be safe and never out of status]. (They also suggested me not to stay for more than 5 months waiting for the approval. If not approved and you over stay for more than 6 months, and then leave the country... one would be barred from coming back to US for the next 3 yrs)

I did an efilling on Aug 16th and had send the supporting documents and a covering letter the next day, stating that due to some circumstances we did not realise that her I94 got expired and as it was just a week passed and I am always on status and continously employed, please accept and approve my wife's petion from the date her old I94 expired.

I got the receipt in one week after I posted the supporting documents and to my surprise we got the approval letter for extension of stay last friday [It took approx 3.5 weeks], I was expecting it to take a minimum of 4 months.

Thank you very much for all your support. Thanks