H-4 Spouse's I-94 expired but my H-1B and I-797A still valid


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I just discovered that when my wife last entered US in Jan 2020, the I-94 issued to her has been expired since August 2020, which is like 7-8 months ago ! In summary though, I think this happened because when she entered the US, my wife had two valid H-4 visas in her passport at the same time (one based on my old employer and one based on my new employer), and the CBP officer just set her I-94 expiration date based on her older H-4 visa stamp, possibly accidentally.

My I-94 has the correct June 2022 expiration, based on my new employer's H-1B I-797A approval. Since my wife's presence in the US is dependent on my presence, is it safe to say that her I-94 just needs to be corrected to show expiration date based on my new employer's I-797A ? Or does this have more serious repercussions ?

Event timeline showing more detail:

October 2017: My H-1B started with old employer

March 2018: I got married. My wife got her first H-4 visa with 29th August 2020 expiry

August 2019: I start working with a new employer and my new H-1B I-797A is approved till June 2022

November 2019: I & my wife travel abroad and get new H-1B and H-4 visa stamps based on my new I-797A, both with a 1 year visa validity till November 2020

December 2019: I re-enter US using my new H-1B visa stamp. My I-94 correctly shows a June 2022 expiration date even though my H-1B expired in November 2020.

January 2020: My wife re-enters US. Her I-94 has 29th August 2020 expiry, which I'm virtually sure is based on her old H-4 visa stamp connected to my previous employer.

Please advice what to do ... 😞

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 4/12/2021 at 3:42 AM, ihatewalmart said:

I just discovered that when my wife last entered US in Jan 2020, the I-94 issued to her has been expired since August 2020, which is like 7-8 months ago ! In summary though, I think this happened because when she entered the US, my wife had two valid H-4 visas in her passport at the same time (one based on my old employer and one based on my new employer), and the CBP officer just set her I-94 expiration date based on her older H-4 visa stamp, possibly accidentally.

My I-94 has the correct June 2022 expiration, based on my new employer's H-1B I-797A approval. Since my wife's presence in the US is dependent on my presence, is it safe to say that her I-94 just needs to be corrected to show expiration date based on my new employer's I-797A ? Or does this have more serious repercussions ?

Event timeline showing more detail:

October 2017: My H-1B started with old employer

March 2018: I got married. My wife got her first H-4 visa with 29th August 2020 expiry

August 2019: I start working with a new employer and my new H-1B I-797A is approved till June 2022

November 2019: I & my wife travel abroad and get new H-1B and H-4 visa stamps based on my new I-797A, both with a 1 year visa validity till November 2020

December 2019: I re-enter US using my new H-1B visa stamp. My I-94 correctly shows a June 2022 expiration date even though my H-1B expired in November 2020.

January 2020: My wife re-enters US. Her I-94 has 29th August 2020 expiry, which I'm virtually sure is based on her old H-4 visa stamp connected to my previous employer.

Please advice what to do ... 😞

Contact your attorney and get it corrected ASAP.

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