H4 Visa Denied

[Puneet Jain]

Hi,

 

I am on a H1B visa approved last year in May. My company also filed H4 for my wife and my son. However today, nearly a year after I received denial notice for the H4s. The reason given is that they went to India in January and thus are considered to have abandoned the request for transfer of status from F2 to H4. We did get the H4 stamped on the basis of my approval notice in India in Feb'20 though. They have H4 stamped by USCIS has denied the application.

My family is in India currently and I don't know what to do.

Can you please advice?

 

Thanks,

Puneet

[pontevecchio]

Their change of status was rightly denied. Their H4 visa has obviously not been denied since they have got the visas. If they want to return, they need the visa which they have, and your current H1 petition.

[MurthyIndia_Lawyer]

Hello!

Please note that in general, when an applicant travels out of the U.S. when an application for change of status is pending with the USCIS, it is deemed to be abandoned. Further, from your message it is clear that they are still outside of the U.S. So, it is normal for the extension to be denied. 

Assuming that your spouse and child filed the request for change of status in a timely manner and left the U.S. while this request was still pending, they should be able to return using the H4 visa on passport. 

If you wish to discuss this further, please feel free to reach out to our Attorneys by emailing them on info@murthyindia.com.