Boarding getting denied in Hyderabad airport for visitors

[ynnr]

Hello all,

 

Need help with one strange issue for my parents.(B2 visa)

My parents were here in US with us in 2011. We had applied for a visa extension through (I-539 form) and it was approved. So they had stayed for a total of 11 months.

They left USA in Jan 2012 and they are in India since then.

 

They are again planning to come to US in March to visit us.

But now they have found that they had misplaced the approval notice (I-797).

 

I have heard that in Hyderabad airport (not sure about other Indian airports) the Indian imigration officials are asking for the previous approval notice to prove that people had stayed with proper approvals. They are denying the boarding of flight if they had stayed for more than 6 months last time in US but do not have a copy of the approval notice.

 

Now that my parents do not have the approval notice with them, how should we handle it?

 

Here are the documents I have.

 

1. I have the application form (I-539) for extension of stay which was filed in 2011.

2. I have the receipt number

3. Copy of USCIS case status website, showing the above receipt number is approved.

 

Kindly help!

[JoeF]

It's probably not the Indian immigration officials, but airline officials.

If people have invalid visas and are denied entry into the US, the airline gets fined. The airline has to make sure that all the visas are proper.

[pontevecchio]

I suspect another urban myth. The Immigration Department works for the Government of India. If your folks have a visa they can board the plane.

[rahul412]

 

I have heard that in Hyderabad airport (not sure about other Indian airports) the Indian imigration officials are asking for the previous approval notice to prove that people had stayed with proper approvals. They are denying the boarding of flight if they had stayed for more than 6 months last time in US but do not have a copy of the approval notice.

Don't listen to rumors and don't scare your parents.

 

Let's assume that your parents stayed in US without ext approval, can they enter into US??

[ynnr]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for all the replies.

 

My parents have valid US visas(B2 visa).

When they visited US last time their 'Extension of stay' application was 'Approved' so they had stayed for 10 months in US.

[JoeF]

Don't listen to rumors and don't scare your parents.

 

Let's assume that your parents stayed in US without ext approval, can they enter into US??

A visitor visa would be invalid if the person overstayed the previous visit, and such person would likely get denied entry, and the airline would get fined.

So, this whole thing would probably be an airline visa validity verification thing.

[rahul412]

A visitor visa would be invalid if the person overstayed the previous visit, and such person would likely get denied entry, and the airline would get fined.

So, this whole thing would probably be an airline visa validity verification thing.

But how can airlines verify that?? All they can see is a valid visa on the passport.

[ynnr]

Airlines can check it by the Indian immigration stamps in the passport (date of departure and date of arrival)

[JoeF]

But how can airlines verify that?? All they can see is a valid visa on the passport.

Yeah, I would say that the visa is prima facie evidence, but the airline may get fined anyway if it turns out the visa is invalid.

I can imagine that if that happened in the past, the airline may ask for additional documentation.

In Europe, lots of the information about the person is nowadays transmitted to the US electronically before the flight starts. Before that, there have been instances where flights were diverted, e.g., to Canada, to prevent certain people on the no-flight list to reach the US (one prominent example I remember was the British singer Cat Stevens, who converted to Islam and during the Bush administration was accused of donating money to some organization with terrorist ties.)

[pontevecchio]

They have to give details of the passengers before the flight takes off to the US government.