Urgent Help - H1-H4 Extension

[parimalkale]

Hi,

My H1 is valid till May2nd 2010. I am in US currently and in process of preparing my documentation for extension. The extension has not been filed yet. My wife is getting her H4 stamped on April 14th 2010 & if approved she will travel on April 19/20th.

I hoping that there will be no issues at immigration at Port of Entry.

Most likely my extension will be filed before her travel to US but stamping will happen before that.

Do I have to file her extension? If not, then is there a grace period concept for H4? What is duration within the H4 can be filed?

My employer is telling me that she should not be traveling if my extension is in process. Is this true? If traveled then what complications should I expect? RFE?

Please let me know.

Thanks in advance
Parimal.

[shervin143]

Extension of stay cannot be filed if the person is not in the country. There is no such thing as grace period. EOS need to be filed before the I-94 expires. Otherwise EOS or COS within the country is not possible.

You can do two things.

1) Let your employer file your extension. When you wife lands in U.S, you can immediately file her extension based on your receipt notice.

2) Ask your wife to wait until your extension is approved and travel later with your extended petition. That way, she will get an I-94 till your petition expiry date.

[parimalkale]

Thanks for reply shervin143.

<<When you wife lands in U.S, you can immediately file her extension based on your receipt notice>>

Do you mean that wait till I get approval on my H1 extn and then file for her extension?

[shervin143]

H4 extension need to be filed before H4 I-94 gets expired. If the I-94 remains valid till you get the approval notice, then you can wait. If not, you can apply for the extension based on the receipt notice that you get upon filing the H1B extension. Look at form I-539 (In immihelp) for more details.

Thanks for reply shervin143.

<<When you wife lands in U.S, you can immediately file her extension based on your receipt notice>>

Do you mean that wait till I get approval on my H1 extn and then file for her extension?