Chris

Hi,

My visa and my wife's visas expired earlier this year. I'm on a H1B and my
wife on a H4. Being good Aliens we applied to extend our visas for another 3
years. I received my extension with the new I-94 a few weeks ago. According
to the BCIS's website my wife's H4 extension, however we never received her
approved notice. We called the BCIS and they said we have to file a I-824 to
request a duplicate copy. Again being good Aliens we paid the $140 filing
fee and filed the I-824. The problem is that our friends at the BCIS is
taking 15 months to process the I-824. We have to travel to our country of
birth in 3 months for green card Consular Processing. Since my wife does not
have a valid I-94 we are concerned that we might run into problems when we
leave the US or the Consular Officer might not issue my wife her immigrant
visa because she does not have the new approval notice to prove she was
valid in the US the past few months. We do have the receipt notice from the
BCIS to prove that we file her I-539 and I-824. Does the Consular Officer
have access to BCIS's computer to verify that my wife's extension was
granted? Are we going to have problems returning to the US?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Sylvia Ottemoeller

"Chris" <> wrote in message
news:...

    > My visa and my wife's visas expired earlier this year. I'm on a H1B and my
    > wife on a H4. Being good Aliens we applied to extend our visas for another
3
    > years. I received my extension with the new I-94 a few weeks ago.
According
    > to the BCIS's website my wife's H4 extension, however we never received
her
    > approved notice. We called the BCIS and they said we have to file a I-824
to
    > request a duplicate copy. Again being good Aliens we paid the $140 filing
    > fee and filed the I-824. The problem is that our friends at the BCIS is
    > taking 15 months to process the I-824. We have to travel to our country of
    > birth in 3 months for green card Consular Processing. Since my wife does
not
    > have a valid I-94 we are concerned that we might run into problems when we
    > leave the US or the Consular Officer might not issue my wife her immigrant
    > visa because she does not have the new approval notice to prove she was
    > valid in the US the past few months. We do have the receipt notice from
the
    > BCIS to prove that we file her I-539 and I-824. Does the Consular Officer
    > have access to BCIS's computer to verify that my wife's extension was
    > granted?

Yes, the same way you do -- see
https://egov.immigration.gov/graphic...s/caseStat.jsp. And you
should print out and take along a result from that page in case computers
are down.

Are we going to have problems returning to the US?

Not because of the lack of the H-4 extension approval notice.

Chris

Thanks Sylvia
Chris

"Sylvia Ottemoeller" <> wrote in message
news:bq2ur2$9gv$...
    > "Chris" <> wrote in message
    > news:...
    > > My visa and my wife's visas expired earlier this year. I'm on a H1B and
my
    > > wife on a H4. Being good Aliens we applied to extend our visas for
another
    > 3
    > > years. I received my extension with the new I-94 a few weeks ago.
    > According
    > > to the BCIS's website my wife's H4 extension, however we never received
    > her
    > > approved notice. We called the BCIS and they said we have to file a
I-824
    > to
    > > request a duplicate copy. Again being good Aliens we paid the $140
filing
    > > fee and filed the I-824. The problem is that our friends at the BCIS is
    > > taking 15 months to process the I-824. We have to travel to our country
of
    > > birth in 3 months for green card Consular Processing. Since my wife does
    > not
    > > have a valid I-94 we are concerned that we might run into problems when
we
    > > leave the US or the Consular Officer might not issue my wife her
immigrant
    > > visa because she does not have the new approval notice to prove she was
    > > valid in the US the past few months. We do have the receipt notice from
    > the
    > > BCIS to prove that we file her I-539 and I-824. Does the Consular
Officer
    > > have access to BCIS's computer to verify that my wife's extension was
    > > granted?
    > Yes, the same way you do -- see
    > https://egov.immigration.gov/graphic...s/caseStat.jsp. And you
    > should print out and take along a result from that page in case computers
    > are down.
    > Are we going to have problems returning to the US?
    > Not because of the lack of the H-4 extension approval notice.