I94 port of entry


samniceguy

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My wife arrived at the port of entry from India on Sept 9th after her months trip from home.

(she went to India on August 9th)

Her passport had been stamped with H4 till oct15 the date from my previous H1 approval letter.
I had received the her new approval email on August 1st after filing through premium but did not receive the new approval letter in mail by the time she was coming back.


At the port of entry, The immigration officer stamped her passport valid till oct25th and mentioned to her that she along with her husband will have to go out of the country before Oct 15
and get our passports re-stamped with the new H1 and H4 stamps and then we can renter the country.
She mentioned to the immigration officer that my husband has the new H1 approval already till May of 2017 showing him the email printout but he still put the officer said
that your stay is valid till Oct 25th this year and insisted that she will have to get out of the country before Oct 15 and come back with the new stamp.

I have the H1 and H4 approval letters now with the new I94 attached at the bottom.
Does the stay valid until stamp of Oct 25 on her passport override the new I94 attached to the approval?
Do we need to do get out of the country and get our passports re-stamped if we don't intend to travel out of the country now,after we got our extension approved?

Thank you for answering.

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"At the port of entry, The immigration officer stamped her passport valid till oct25th and mentioned to her that she along with her husband will have to go out of the country before Oct 15"

 

=>At POE they require original approval -I797. Notice doesn't work for them. They will give you the dates on last I797.

 

"I have the H1 and H4 approval letters now with the new I94 attached at the bottom."

 

=> Because you remained in USA, you are intact with your visa status. No need to leave USA. You new I94 expiry date will be as per your I797 I94.

 

"Does the stay valid until stamp of Oct 25 on her passport override the new I94 attached to the approval?"

 

=> The effective I94 date is the date in last received I94. In this case, it the one she got at POE. The date mentioned on H4 I797 is older than Sept 9th. Now, she has these options:

1. Go to nearest CBP office and ask them they have put this I94 date by error, fix it.

2. File a new I539 before Oct 25th to extend H4 status.

3. Reenter in USA with new H4 I797. 

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Thanks for replying that was the most precise answer I have sought for so far.

 

I will try out the 3 options in sequence as mentioned above for my wifes I94.

 

Also my I94 after h1 approval on the homeland security still has the previous H1 approvals Admit until Date i.e.Oct 15.

Its been 2 and half month since the approval notice was issued, but its not updated what would you recommend for this situation.

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"Its been 2 and half month since the approval notice was issued, but its not updated what would you recommend for this situation."

 

=> POE I94 not is never updated. Once you get the new I94, previous one is expired. You got I797 I94 so previous POE I94 has no meaning now. (FYI, one should surrender all I94 while exiting USA. Means, whenever you leave USA, you should give both I94s to the airport people).

In your wife's case, because your H1b was approved before her entering in USA, she can ask them to fix it.

Visiting CBP office is not a good option as this will be done face to face not on phone. Filing I539 will incur same cost as taking day off/ flying for visiting CBP office. Also, I have visited Chicago CBP office, they are not friendly. Go with I539, I would say.

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Thanks I went to the Cleveland airport today thats the nearest to me.

At the airport I asked the representative so that I could talk to the immigration officer there.

The representative at the info desk called the immigration/CBP officer from the phone from the desk, the officer asked me if I had an appointment booked.

I mentioned I didnt and aplogized and asked for one for Monday today being a Friday.

He asked what was in respect to, I mentioned about my wifes I94 needing correction and he fixed that over the phone taking all the details. He mentioned that its going to be 24 hours before it reflects on the CBP site.

 

I came home and my wifes I94 is now corrected on the CBP website the same day.

 

Thank you for your help in this matter my attorney's suggestion was to take a trip to Canada and get both our  H1andH4 stamps which was really not needed.

Have a great weekend.

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