Vikas

Hello,

I have a question on my H4 approval for my wife. My last H1B and her
H4 expired in 2002 along with her I-94. My old company applied for H1B
and H4 approval, which they got in May 2003 but by that time I was
layed off and I had joined another company. The new company applied
for my H1 approval but due to some miscommunication they never sent a
H4 petition for my wife. Now I have already sent both of our passports
for revalidation. Assumming that our passports are stamped with valid
visas, can she travel out of country? Can she use the I-797 from the
old company which has a valid I-94 or does she have to first wait for
the I-797 document that is applied by the new company before traveling
out of the country?

Thank you,
Vikas

J. J. Farrell

"Vikas" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > I have a question on my H4 approval for my wife. My last H1B and her
    > H4 expired in 2002 along with her I-94. My old company applied for H1B
    > and H4 approval, which they got in May 2003 but by that time I was
    > layed off and I had joined another company. The new company applied
    > for my H1 approval but due to some miscommunication they never sent a
    > H4 petition for my wife. Now I have already sent both of our passports
    > for revalidation. Assumming that our passports are stamped with valid
    > visas, can she travel out of country? Can she use the I-797 from the
    > old company which has a valid I-94 or does she have to first wait for
    > the I-797 document that is applied by the new company before traveling
    > out of the country?

Once she is outside the USA, any I-797s for her H-4 status are
irrelevant. If she gets a valid visa, the I-797 she should show
(if requested) at Port of Entry is your current one (or a copy
of it).

Vikas

"J. J. Farrell" <> wrote in message news:<g3rPb.21958$>...
    > "Vikas" <> wrote in message
    > news:...
    > >
    > > I have a question on my H4 approval for my wife. My last H1B and her
    > > H4 expired in 2002 along with her I-94. My old company applied for H1B
    > > and H4 approval, which they got in May 2003 but by that time I was
    > > layed off and I had joined another company. The new company applied
    > > for my H1 approval but due to some miscommunication they never sent a
    > > H4 petition for my wife. Now I have already sent both of our passports
    > > for revalidation. Assumming that our passports are stamped with valid
    > > visas, can she travel out of country? Can she use the I-797 from the
    > > old company which has a valid I-94 or does she have to first wait for
    > > the I-797 document that is applied by the new company before traveling
    > > out of the country?
    >
    > Once she is outside the USA, any I-797s for her H-4 status are
    > irrelevant. If she gets a valid visa, the I-797 she should show
    > (if requested) at Port of Entry is your current one (or a copy
    > of it).

But what about port of Departure? Will there be any problem? Which
I-94 does she need to give it to them? She has two I-94s right now.
The I-94 that was stapled in her passport, which expired in Dec. 2002
and the I-94 that is in the copy of I-797 from my old company, which
is valid till 2005.

Thanks again for your reply,
Vikas

J. J. Farrell

"Vikas" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > "J. J. Farrell" <> wrote in message
news:<g3rPb.21958$>...
    > > "Vikas" <> wrote in message
    > > news:...
    > > >
    > > > I have a question on my H4 approval for my wife. My last H1B and her
    > > > H4 expired in 2002 along with her I-94. My old company applied for H1B
    > > > and H4 approval, which they got in May 2003 but by that time I was
    > > > layed off and I had joined another company. The new company applied
    > > > for my H1 approval but due to some miscommunication they never sent a
    > > > H4 petition for my wife. Now I have already sent both of our passports
    > > > for revalidation. Assumming that our passports are stamped with valid
    > > > visas, can she travel out of country? Can she use the I-797 from the
    > > > old company which has a valid I-94 or does she have to first wait for
    > > > the I-797 document that is applied by the new company before traveling
    > > > out of the country?
    > >
    > > Once she is outside the USA, any I-797s for her H-4 status are
    > > irrelevant. If she gets a valid visa, the I-797 she should show
    > > (if requested) at Port of Entry is your current one (or a copy
    > > of it).
    > But what about port of Departure? Will there be any problem? Which
    > I-94 does she need to give it to them? She has two I-94s right now.
    > The I-94 that was stapled in her passport, which expired in Dec. 2002
    > and the I-94 that is in the copy of I-797 from my old company, which
    > is valid till 2005.

Just follow the instructions on the I-797s. Each I-797 she has
received to extend her H-4 status will have had an I-94 attached.
The instructions say to remove the I-94 and attach it to any
existing I-94s in her passport. She should do that now if she
hasn't already done so. She hands them all in when she leaves.

You might be as well to talk with the attorney who is handling
these things for your company. It is not entirely clear what
your situation is. What documents did you send with the passports
to get the new visas? Has your current company now applied for
an extension of her H-4 status? Does she have the I-797 with
attached I-94 that approved her extension of H-4 from your old
company? What is the expiry date on that approval/I-94?

Vikas

"J. J. Farrell" <> wrote in message news:<3AMPb.21814$>...
    > "Vikas" <> wrote in message
    > news:...
    > > "J. J. Farrell" <> wrote in message
    > news:<g3rPb.21958$>...
    > > > "Vikas" <> wrote in message
    > > > news:...
    > > > >
    > > > > I have a question on my H4 approval for my wife. My last H1B and her
    > > > > H4 expired in 2002 along with her I-94. My old company applied for H1B
    > > > > and H4 approval, which they got in May 2003 but by that time I was
    > > > > layed off and I had joined another company. The new company applied
    > > > > for my H1 approval but due to some miscommunication they never sent a
    > > > > H4 petition for my wife. Now I have already sent both of our passports
    > > > > for revalidation. Assumming that our passports are stamped with valid
    > > > > visas, can she travel out of country? Can she use the I-797 from the
    > > > > old company which has a valid I-94 or does she have to first wait for
    > > > > the I-797 document that is applied by the new company before traveling
    > > > > out of the country?
    > > >
    > > > Once she is outside the USA, any I-797s for her H-4 status are
    > > > irrelevant. If she gets a valid visa, the I-797 she should show
    > > > (if requested) at Port of Entry is your current one (or a copy
    > > > of it).
    > >
    > > But what about port of Departure? Will there be any problem? Which
    > > I-94 does she need to give it to them? She has two I-94s right now.
    > > The I-94 that was stapled in her passport, which expired in Dec. 2002
    > > and the I-94 that is in the copy of I-797 from my old company, which
    > > is valid till 2005.
    >
    > Just follow the instructions on the I-797s. Each I-797 she has
    > received to extend her H-4 status will have had an I-94 attached.
    > The instructions say to remove the I-94 and attach it to any
    > existing I-94s in her passport. She should do that now if she
    > hasn't already done so. She hands them all in when she leaves.
    >
    > You might be as well to talk with the attorney who is handling
    > these things for your company. It is not entirely clear what
    > your situation is. What documents did you send with the passports
    > to get the new visas? Has your current company now applied for
    > an extension of her H-4 status? Does she have the I-797 with
    > attached I-94 that approved her extension of H-4 from your old
    > company? What is the expiry date on that approval/I-94?

I finally get to talk to the attorney. When I sent the passports for
revalidation, I didn't send a copy of the H4 approval that I had of
the old company. I still haven't got the passports back and the
attorney said that my wife's visa might be rejected on this basis. The
attorney told me that she doesn't need to apply for the extension as
she has the one from old company that is valid till 2005. If she get
the visa then its fine else she can get it from India before coming
back.

On the I-797, it says to tear the I-94 and present it to immigration
officer at Port of Departure. Does that mean that she need the
original I-797? We just have a copy of it. The original is still with
the old company.

Thank you,
Vikas