B2 Visa extension due to cononavirus?

USA
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21

Hi,
I have applied for my mothers visa B2 extension in April, so far i have not received any response from USCIS. have paid all fee and have Status on USCIS website is same same since April. any suggestion what i should do next

22

You can only wait. All B2 extensions need to go through Biometric and Biometric centres are closed at this time.

23

Hi
Current situation : My B2 visa holder mother has an I94 that is valid till September 16. I want to extend her stay for I genuinely am scared about the virus situation and do not want her to travel. She is 60 years old.
My questions

  1. Is this a valid enough reason for extension?
  2. How to strengthen the case for approval?
  3. Can I be her financial support? What documents do I submit? What is I 134?
  4. One of the required proof is return tickets. But how can I book a ticket without knowing this application will be approved? Will I get a refund otherwise?
  5. What is the daytime phone number I give in the application? She doesn’t have a phone number in the US.
  6. Does this procedure involve getting an appointment for an interview? Or biometrics?
  7. What is the fee? 370 or 370+85?

Thank you so much

24

Hi @Vaish

Please read above discussion and here:

B2 fees calculator is available here.

25

I am so glad I found this blog because I am losing sleep because of anxiety! Thank so much @Anil.Gupta for all your responses here. Here is my situation:

My mother is ~65 and asthmatic and arrived in US on B2 in Oct 2019 (I-94 expiry was Apr 2020). She was prepared to leave in Apr 2020 as per her return ticket but the flights got cancelled. We immediately applied for an extension for her in Mar 2020. I requested an extension until Oct 2020 since I read that on B2 you can only stay up to 1 year at a time. I haven’t heard anything back yet.

  1. What happens if we don’t get a decision by Oct 2020? Does the rule about 1 year maximum duration of stay on B2 visa still apply if an extension application is pending? Will she start accruing any unlawful presence after Oct 2020?

  2. Even if her extension is approved before Oct 2020, she will still have to leave the country in Oct 2020 as that is what we applied for. Seeing the situation so far I still don’t feel comfortable having her travel in Oct 2020. Can I request more time for her to stay?

  3. If yes, should I:
    a. Update my currently pending application to request more time?
    b. Apply for another extension now?
    c. Apply for another extension if this one gets approved?

I’d really appreciate some guidance. Thank you so much!

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26

You have to apply for another extension by paying full fee again before the current request’s end date expires.

These are unprecedented situations and USCIS has not given any guidance with respect to 1 year rules or how much can a B2 person stay in the US.

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27

Hi ,

My Parents are on visitor visa and their I94 was till May 7th. In the cover letter, i filed for extension in April but mistakenly requested extension till July 30th ( 3 months extension). I heard that by default one gets 6 months extension. I wanted to know if they are not able to fly back in august, is it recommended to apply extension in July again ( as i requested only for 2 months) or do i have to do by october-novemeber.

28

Hi @shail06

You should apply extension before the end of your requested ‘end date’.

29

Hi dreamyone

I am exactly in the same situation as yours with the same time frame regarding B2 visa for my parents. We also extended their stay till October 2020 and they will be completing one year stay on B2 visa by then.

What are you planning to do in this regard? Did you get any information on extending visting parent’s stay beyond 1 year due to Covid?

I am also very anxious about it and any little information on it also will be of great help!

Thanks
Kalyan

30

Hi Kalyan,

As recommended by @Anil.Gupta (thanks!), I am awaiting the response from USCIS on the extension application and will be filing another extension 45 days before the end date I requested on the current extension application. I wasn’t able to find any information on whether or not my mom will accrue any out of status stay because of being here beyond 1 year while an extension is in process. But I figure this is all we can do given this situation. My real worry is if the current extension application gets denied for any reason, I don’t really have a plan for that situation, because then my mom will immediately be out of status.
Please share anything that you find out as well.

Edit: @krapol01 you mentioned you also applied for an extension until Oct 2020, have you heard anything back on that? And did you include an affidavit of support in your extension application?

Thanks!

31

Hi @krapol01 !

Any updates/ new info that you found? I haven’t heard anything back on our first extension request, so I am curious if anyone else heard back on their applications or not.

Thanks!

32

@anil_am22 I really need some advice. This is my situation. I called USCIS and the agent told me that I should not file for another B2 extension while my initial B2 extension application is pending, as this would result in denial of the first one. Do you know if this is correct? Thank you so much for all your guidance and help!

33

I am not aware of any such rule.

USCIS call center agents are not legal representatives. Their advice is not always reliable.

If you have doubts, please talk to an attorney and then take an informed decision.

1 Like
34

Thank you @anil_am22 for all you do and the time you spend answering our questions :blush:. You are a godsend!

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35

Hello,

My parents traveled to the US to visit us in mid Nov last year and were scheduled to return to India in mid April, well before the expiry of their I94 (mid May). Owing to the Covid-19 situation, their vulnerable age group, health conditions and closure of international borders we applied for a I-539 application for extending their I-94 until End of July this year.

While this application was pending, the situation did not improve in June and July and we applied for a second I-539 for extending their I-94 until mid November 2020. This would result in a total of 6 months extension. We received the receipt number for the second application and also have a biometrics appointment scheduled for both the I539 applications.

While we await the decision from USCIS on the I539 applications, the situation in India, specifically in Mumbai is dangerous and I am worried for my parents owing to the risk during travel, given their health conditions and vulnerable age group. With this in mind, can we apply for a third I94 extension, given that the period of extension that we requested for in both the earlier applications was a total period of 6 months.

Has anyone applied for I94 extension for more than 6 months? Would another I-539 application result in denial?

Thanks!

36

Hello IShreena,

We are in similar situation to yours and I was wondering if anything has changed in your situation. Have you applied for extension? Did you already get your biometrics done and got the extension. We did our biometrics last month but no response received yet. Ours are about to expire in November end. Would be grateful if you let me know.

Thanks

37

Hi Ngautam,

My parents completed their biometrics and we are awaiting the decision. As soon as the decision comes, we are planning to apply for another extension. Will let you know in case anything changes at my end.

Thanks!

38

Hi dreamyone!

Did you get an approval on I94 extension until Oct 2020?
Have you applied for another extension so that your mother can stay with you for longer?

It would be great if you could respond to this please as I am in a similar situation and am running out of options.

Thanks!

39

Thank you very much IShreena. Good Luck.

40

Hi @ishreena!

We haven’t heard anything back yet on our first application for extension :frowning_face:. I have recently applied for another extension for my mom because of similar concerns as yours, and can only wait for a response now. I tried to provide as much info as I could - attached relevant CDC guidelines around travel specific to older people, COVID-19 trends in India (as of my application date), the return ticket that got cancelled, and airline’s guidelines around the same etc. But of course I don’t really know for sure if that helped or not since we haven’t heard anything back yet.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found any additional information anywhere, other than on this forum.

Let us know what you end up doing!