I94 expired, i-797 still valid and in the middle of green card application

[fairysun]

Hello all,

I am new to this forum.

My friend told me to post my issue here because he said the people here are helpful.

Here is my issue:

I need to extend my H1-B(it will expire in July 2011) for 3 more years so I sent all the documents to my lawyer.

That's when one of the lawyer understudy told me that I have expired I94 (valid until December 2010, my visa valid date) and I am out of status. It happened because I went back to my home country in 2009. And here I thought, I will be fine as long as the date in my I-797 is valid {Ignorance is a bliss :( }

So, I did a little bit of research

http://murthyforum.atinfopop.com/4/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1024039761&f=7414019812&m=9831073012

1. Any advice I should do? Should I contact cbp officers in my Port-of-Entry in Houston?

2. If I try to file nunc-pro-tunc I-129 petition(like venuraman did in his topic), will it burn the my current green card application, because I filed it based on my current I-797/(H1-B)? I am on the step where I had my I-140 approved last year.

I have a phone conference with my lawyer this afternoon. I'll update if I have interesting development.

Any input appreciated.

Thanks.

[pontevecchio]

"It happened because I went back to my home country in 2009.'

Please make sense of/from this statement.

[LAproblem]

I had a similar issue in 2009. My 1-94 expired in 2008 but i had my 797 valid till 2009. I was about to apply for extention when my lawyer told me that i was out of status. I panicked as well.

I worked for a large internation firm and their lawyers suggested to file for nunc pro trunc. BUt i did some reserach on this forum itself and was able to find someone with my exact case who tried going to multiple CBP locations and wasnt able to get it corrected. And then he mentioned that the Seattle CBP office were helpful and got it done. I booked a flight the same evening and was able to correct it. Hope this helps.

[fairysun]

@pontevecchio

Ah sorry.

I did not explain that quite clearly.

I went back to my home country and when I got back to USA, the officers in my entry port gave me new I-94 with different date than the date on my I-797.

Therefore, I am in this trouble.

@LAproblem

OK thanks for the info.

I will try that.

[beunited]

Hello,

I was very happy to see the exact situation.

Please provide your phone number to correct me the case.

Thanks

Guru

Originally posted by LAproblem:

I had a similar issue in 2009. My 1-94 expired in 2008 but i had my 797 valid till 2009. I was about to apply for extention when my lawyer told me that i was out of status. I panicked as well.

I worked for a large internation firm and their lawyers suggested to file for nunc pro trunc. BUt i did some reserach on this forum itself and was able to find someone with my exact case who tried going to multiple CBP locations and wasnt able to get it corrected. And then he mentioned that the Seattle CBP office were helpful and got it done. I booked a flight the same evening and was able to correct it. Hope this helps.

[beunited]

Please provide your number to gurur.20@*****.com.

Originally posted by LAproblem:

I had a similar issue in 2009. My 1-94 expired in 2008 but i had my 797 valid till 2009. I was about to apply for extention when my lawyer told me that i was out of status. I panicked as well.

I worked for a large internation firm and their lawyers suggested to file for nunc pro trunc. BUt i did some reserach on this forum itself and was able to find someone with my exact case who tried going to multiple CBP locations and wasnt able to get it corrected. And then he mentioned that the Seattle CBP office were helpful and got it done. I booked a flight the same evening and was able to correct it. Hope this helps.

[fairysun]

Hi,

Sorry, I was occupied with other things so I am a little bit late on the update.

I went to CBP offices in Oklahoma City since I live nearby. The problem with OKC-CBP office is they only open for immigration every Wednesday.

I had a new I-94 issued which has the same expiration date with my I-797.

I called my attorney and canceled the nunc pro trunc application.

My suggestion for similar issue: Contact your nearest CBP office.

And I would like to thank you for all the people in this forum that have given me helpful advices and moral support.

This topic is officially closed.