H4 Denial

[pnramya]

Hi Team,

I am on H1b visa and my spouse came to United states on H4 visa as a dependent and applied for H1b in usa and got H1b approved and even went for H1b stamping too in India, and  we have applied for change of status from H1B to H4 in May 2017 and on Jan 31st 2018 the application has been denied stating that the dependent departed united states while the change of status request was pending.

Due to some personal reasons my spouse had to leave to India during July 2017 and were not aware that the dependent should be actively present in USA. The notice says that we can appeal within 33 days. But not sure how to proceed with this case, as its true that the dependent was not physically present in USA during the process of change of status and I can't prove that he was here.

The current I94 of dependent expired on Jan 31st, 2018. As fas my H1b visa is concerned I have valid and approved petition until 2020 and I am in usa only.

SO please suggest what can be done to bring the dependent back to usa.

Regards,

Ramya

 

[JoeF]

She can just get an H4 visa from the consulate.

[pnramya]

Thank for the reply. Wont there be any problem if they directly go for visa stamping as the conversion from H1b to h4 was denied.?

[JoeF]

No. The COS had to be denied because a person who is abroad by definition has no status that could be changed.

For somebody who is abroad, getting an H4 visa by presenting the H1 petition from the spouse and the marriage certificate is completely normal.

[pnramya]

thanks a lot for the quick response. Is there any timeline that we need to wait to go for stamping due to denial?