Has anyone's I197 petition expired during USCIS review

lostpacket

By lostpacket,
in H1B : Visa Stamp

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lostpacket Advanced Member

lostpacket

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Hello there,

There are few unlucky people here whose case was sent back to USCIS for review. I would like to ask them whether anyone's petition (i797) got expired while the USCIS review was in progress ?

If so, has anyone got a reply from the USCIS about review of such cases when the expiration date of the petition has already lapsed?

I am looking for the answer for a long time but couldn't find it. If someone has gone through this situation , please let me know the answer.

Thanks

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tejalks Advanced Member

tejalks

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Hi Lostpacket,

I have not seen many people wait here till that duration. Mostly people try to apply another H1 or a transfer.. Hope this answers your question.

Any updates on ur case ??? I know you have been waiting since a long time. We were in touch on the old murthy forum on NEW DELHI 221g topic.

I am still waiting :(

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lostpacket Advanced Member

lostpacket

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hey Tejalks. Since my petition got expired, we applied for a new one and got it approved.

With this petition, I went to Mumbai consulate ( as the consulate had started accepting applications ). There the VO refused giving visa because my old petition is with the USCIS for review. I told him that the petition is expired but the adamant didn't listen.

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tejalks Advanced Member

tejalks

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hey Tejalks. Since my petition got expired, we applied for a new one and got it approved.

With this petition, I went to Mumbai consulate ( as the consulate had started accepting applications ). There the VO refused giving visa because my old petition is with the USCIS for review. I told him that the petition is expired but the adamant didn't listen.

Hey Lostpacket,

This is really disappointing.. So has ur new H1B also sent back to USCIS now ?? or its just denied totally ?? Wat are ur next steps now ?? When you re - applied - did u change ur work model & also was it from the same employer or a different employer ? From my side, I am still waiting to hear back from the USCIS.. If you dont mind can you please answer these questions, atleast can gain some insight into how & wat should I do. Thanks.

Regards,

Tejal.

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viksingh15 Newbie

viksingh15

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Hey Lostpacket,

This is really disappointing.. So has ur new H1B also sent back to USCIS now ?? or its just denied totally ?? Wat are ur next steps now ?? When you re - applied - did u change ur work model & also was it from the same employer or a different employer ? From my side, I am still waiting to hear back from the USCIS.. If you dont mind can you please answer these questions, atleast can gain some insight into how & wat should I do. Thanks.

Regards,

Tejal.

You can withdraw old petition and then go again with new approval.

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tejalks Advanced Member

tejalks

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@Tejalks: The new petition is with Mumbai only. The visa is refused under 221g. The employer is same but the client is different. All documents perfect. For you its best to search for another employer.

@vksingh15: Can we withdraw petition that is in review with USCIS ?

Thanks a lot Lostpacket. I was thinking to re file through the same employer, but he suggested that re filing is not a good option, coz they would have in their records that a case is pending in my name. Hence best is to wait till we hear from USCIS. Also he says that if I have to refile through him, then he can only file in April 2012 & I can come in October, I thought I was going to be in cap exempt. Most of the other employers I was contact a few months back, told me I would be cap exempt in case if I decide for a transfer of H1B. Really confused with the all different answers. coz I dont want to start my wait period again after going for another interview.

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kuku82 Advanced Member

kuku82

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well, my two cents !!!

Reapplying with a new petition is the only option when your petition is sent bacl to USCIS, as it will take forever to get response from them. Going for the same employer again is not a good idea if the refusal of first petition was employer related. If it wans't employer related then chances of getting approval with second petition is very high.

I had the same case.. my petition was sent back to uscis and expired.. I came back on b1 visa and applied for new petition with change of status which got approved. My previous petition is still pending by USCIS under review after 1 year.

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tejalks Advanced Member

tejalks

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@ kuku82 -

Thanks a lot for your suggestion. I would like to mention here that you were lucky that you got thru the B1 visa, when your H1B was pending with USCIS. There have been many people I know through this forum & facebook, who have filed a new or transfer of H1, through another employer but have again got a 221g. At the same time, there have also been those patient one's who waited for xyz number of months (which seemed like years or centuries to the applicants) to get a re affirmation & go for a reinterview to land up with another 221g. I think very few have been successful in both the above scenarios.

Also when you mentioned that dont file again through the same employer, especially if the previous petition was sent back to USCIS due to issues related to the employer. I have a doubt here, how would one come to know if it is related to the employer. Coz most of the applicants who have got a letter stating that your case has been sent back - the template of it is standard - since your employer is unable to provide a qualifying employment to you in the US or since there is no employer - employee relationship.

I am waiting since April 2011(has my interview in this month) & case reached USCIS in Aug 2011 (so waiting to hear USCIS decision since Aug 2011).

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kuku82 Advanced Member

kuku82

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@kuku82

Thanks for your opinion. Didn't the VO question you about previous H1B visa application when you went for B1 interview ?

Your move worked quite well for you though :) ...B1 to H1B instead of dealing with H1b stamping again..

Well I already have B1/B2 visa on my passport before I got H1b and it was valid for 7 more years....

Getting new b1/b2 with h1b pending is really not a good idea..

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kuku82 Advanced Member

kuku82

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@tejal

I did not go for new B1 visa...I already had it before I got my first H1b stamping.... So there was no issue of getting b1.

Secondly how would you know if the refusal was employer related ... ---- Well, when you get a letter from US consulate after your interview stating that they are sending your petition back to USCIS they always mention a reason. The most common reason for EVC or even EC model is - Employer-employee relationship not maintained. This is true for all H1b visas through consultants..

Second reason - Your educational qualification do not match for the position and for that matter for this visa.

Third reason - At the time of approving your status, USCIS adjudicating officer was not aware of some facts... ( this was my case. I do not remember exact words what they mentioned)

Now I am a non IT guy, a direct employee in a health care field with non for profit non cap organization with more than 2000 employees - a very straight forward case. I got this reason in a letter by the consulate because I asked them to withdraw my case as my employer had already terminated my contract after waiting for 3 months. So there was no reason for continuing the pending case.. But instead of withdrawing my case the consulate returned it to USCIS stating the above mentioned reason and it was pending since then.

In the lat but not the least - entering on b1 visa with intention to changing status is a fraud if you did not declare your intention at POE. I did not intend to do that. I came to see my employer and discuss further options and that is what I informed at POE when I was asked the reason to visit, I also told them that my H1b is pending with the same employer.

they did not bother about it and gave me 6 months entry even if I asked for only 15 days. But they noted it down in their system. So I met my employer and decided to apply for new H1b next year. But on a previous day og my leaving I got a call from him asking me to start if I can as they had someone leaving the position. So we tried my luck from there and got lucky enough to change my status.

USCIS must be aware of my previous pending h1b, my current status and what I mentioned at POE as a reason of my arrival to the USA. So fortunately I had uttered truth at POE and it helped me.

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lostpacket Advanced Member

lostpacket

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Tejalks, kuku82

Got email from Mumbai NIV to submit the passport. I am going to submit it tomorrow itself.

But the email also says "Please note that this email communication does not confirm that your visa is issued at this time."

So hoping for the best. Today morning only I had a dream that my CEAC barcode appeared in the Mumbai Case Status PDF and now I got this email. Hoping for the best now :)

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