H4 - Visa Denied - Reason Biometrics not attended

My husbands H4 Visa extension was filed in october and the reciept recieved on 10/21/2019.

We received a a denial notice for for I-539 today un mail,the reason for denial is mentioned as "Failure to appear for biometrics, and the application is considered abandoned and USCIS denies your request"

We never received any mail communication to appear for biometrics.

My husbands Visa was valid until December 31st 2019 and I94 as well,is he technically out of status now ?

The letter we received mentions that we can file a motion and reopen the case, but the attorney or the VISA filing team in my company are suggesting that my spouse has to travel back immediately, and they would refile H4 standalone. they will not reopen the current denial.

If we refile can he still legally stay in the US based on the new reciept ?

Somebody asked same question here and i answered. Please read:

Hello Sir/madam,

I am on H1B visa, applied for my extension on May 2019 and it got approved. Along with my extension, I applied for my kids H4 extension. But this week, I got a mail saying my kids 1-539 is denied as we missed to attend in person bio-metric appointment.

I did not receive any mail saying that kids need to attend for bio metrics. May be mail was missed somewhere or wrongly delivered to some one else. So, we missed to attend for bio metrics and now I-539 is denied. Here, I have attached the mail copy I received this week.

Can you please let me know what options I have?

  1. Can I reapply for my Kids H4 extension again with my organization now?

  2. My wife is also on H1B and this week she is changing her job and new company is applying for her H1B transfer. Can we add kids as dependents along with her new application?

  3. What options I have now without leaving the country? How I can file a motion to reopen a petition or application denied? Do I have this option?

**Reason mentioned in mail:

"You were admitted to the United States as an H4 nonimrnigrant on August 8, 201 7, and were granted

an authorized period of stay until May 26, 2019.

Under Title 8, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 103.2(b)(13)(ii), ifUSCIS requires an

individual to appear for biometrics capture, an interview, or other required in-person process, and that

individual does not appear, the application or petition shall be considered abandoned and denied,

unless USCIS has received a change of address or rescheduling request by the appointment time that

the agency concludes warrants excusing the failure to appear.

USCIS directed you to appear at an Application Support Center (ASC) on May 21 , 2019 for the

You failed to appear for the scheduled biometric services appointment. Additionally, there is no

evidence in the record to indicate that, prior to the appointment time, USCIS received a change of

address or rescheduling request justifying your failure to appear.

Therefore, your application is considered abandoned and USCIS denies your request.

A denial due to abandonment may not be appealed. However, there are limited motion rights. You

may file a motion to reopen a petition or application denied due to abandonment with evidence that the

decision was in error because:

"

Hi @ptnaidu

Please read above.

Thank you. My kids I 94 was expired on 26th May 2019. Do I need to calculate 180days from then? In this case we already passed 180 days and nearing to 1 year after expiry. Is that mean they ban for 3 years? Also, we cannot travel to India now due to travel ban.
Can we go for H4 stamping to Mexico? Will they allow back from Mexico if 3 year ban is already in place? How we can know if there is any ban on us? Can you please clarify?

I heard we can apply for NPT. What is NPT means?

The unlawful presence starts from i94 expiry. So, yes, you should count days starting i94 expiry.

You can go anywhere out of US to get H4 visa stamp.

NPT is ‘nunc pro tunc’ which is an option to file H4 Extension after i94 expiry and request USCIS to give approval from back date. This varies by your situation.

In your case, it is difficult as you have already spent more than 180 days.

The automatic ban can be waived off based on your situation.

See these recent cases:

Thank You Anil, That helps.
My Employer has filed a new H4 with NPT on May 1st, but due to the unfortunate circumstance ,he is not able to travel out of the country.
We hope NPT helps us backdate the number of days he has stayed here illegally and we are able to tavel back before 180 days.

Hi Divya - We’re in same situation and because of missed biometrics, H4 was denied. Unfortunately for us, our company will not do filing for H4 and we’re on our own. Can you plz lemme know the process to refile with NPT?

Hi Dileep.hope you are well .can you share your experience with me ? I’m in same situation . I did not receive the mail for biometrics so I did not go and my case was denied . Current I94 expires in Jan 2021. What’s the best option ? File a motion or refine h4 ?

My h4 was filed along with my husband’s h1b (change of employer ) . My h4 got denied since I could not attend the biometric appointment. We never received the biometric appointment notice . Probably we missed it due to change of address . What is the best next action : file a motion or refile h4 . My current I 94 expires January 2021

Hi Anil,

I am on h4 visa and landed USA on april12th 2019 and applied for extension in the month of june but we did not receive bio-metric letter from USICS and we were not aware much about the process but we received denial notice after an year (may 2020) however my husband’s employer suggested for MTR. We applied the same on June 07th 2020 and we received denial(MTR) for the same yesterday.

What is the best solution ? can i apply fresh h4 visa? what are the chances of approving ?

Please reply on priority basis.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Anil,

i am on h4 visa but my visa got denied and mtr as well due to non attending biometrics.

please find the sequence below:

I94 : Admit date : 08/20/2019
1st H4 Extn + H1B Extn Applied on 06/21/2019
No Receipt/Bio metric received to home/Attorney address
2nd H4 Extn + H1B Applied on 04/05/2020 (Due to H1B expiry on 06/05/2020)
H4 Denial Notice Received on 05/11/2020
H1B Approved till 06/05/2023
MTR Filed (I290B) 07/08/2020
MTR Denial email Received : 08/19/2020

  1. After H4/MTR Denial how to proceed further and your suggestions ?

  2. How many days can I still legally stay in USA?

  3. Will I face any BAN or rejections in case If I travel for H4 stamping in India ?

  4. Will I face POE issues after stamping ?

5.Any other issues you could foresee ?

Hi Anil,

i am on h4 visa but my visa got denied and mtr as well due to non attending biometrics.

please find the sequence below:

I94 : Admit date : 08/20/2019
1st H4 Extn + H1B Extn Applied on 06/21/2019
No Receipt/Bio metric received to home/Attorney address
2nd H4 Extn + H1B Applied on 04/05/2020 (Due to H1B expiry on 06/05/2020)
H4 Denial Notice Received on 05/11/2020
H1B Approved till 06/05/2023
MTR Filed (I290B) 07/08/2020
MTR Denial email Received : 08/19/2020

  1. After H4/MTR Denial how to proceed further and your suggestions ?

  2. How many days can I still legally stay in USA?

  3. Will I face any BAN or rejections in case If I travel for H4 stamping in India ?

  4. Will I face POE issues after stamping ?

  5. Any other issues you could foresee ?

Hi Mishra - Since you have I94 until Jan 2021, I think you can either refile or appeal motion

Unfortunately, I did not file motion or refiling since I have moved to Canada.

Hi All,
I searched this forum and could not find any clear answer to this.
I am wondering, is there anyone here who got H4 denial due to missing Biometric (even though no letter was received) and then successfully filed H4 NPT which was approved restoring you back into status.
Can you please share your experience, it will help me and others who are getting such denials recently.

thanks in advance!

Hi

  1. H1 and H4 extensions applied on May 2019
  2. H1 extension approved on Oct 2019 (Valid until Feb 2021)
  3. I-94 Expired on Aug 26 2019.
  4. H4 Extension Denied on May 2nd 2020 ( for not attending Biometrics,)
  5. Applied for H4 -NPT, the case received on June 17 2020(Filed NPT as neither attorney or myself didn’t get notice for Biometrics)
  6. H4-NPT -Biometrics done on 9/30

Now Waiting on H4-NPT decision from USCIS…

But the concern is that ,as the H4 case was denied in May 2020 ,if they overstay after Nov 4th 2020. (6 months) leads to BAN.

If we wait for H4-NPT positive decision and overstay even after Nov 4th

My question is…

  1. How Positive can we be on decision from USCIS and risk to overstay…as NPT case was accepted and we completed Biometrics also ?

  2. If we overstay in US beyond Nov 4th and get Positive decision from USCIS … will there be still a BAN on H4? Due to overstay ?

  3. Is overstay calculated from the date of H4 denial or I-94 Expiry?

  4. Will be any impact on my kid(H4) who is Minor due to overstay in future?

  5. What impact will be there on wife(H4) if overstay for 3 months ?

  6. In this what else we can do to get an Immediate decision from USCIS before Nov 4th 2020.? (Attorney requested for an expedite request but got denied as did not provide evidence of extreme emergent need)

Hi Divya, Can you please help me i also have similar case. We never received biometrics and case approved then after 2 months its showing now denial.

Hi I got some success. My Wife applied H4 extension on Jan 21st 2020 with My H1 and my H1 approved in 10 days and we did not receive letter. I Checked with my employer after a month, I could have checked with attorney. On July 31st we got denial. We applied MTR with in a month after that and got new receipt for MTR. But her unlawful presence started counting from July 31st. Her I-94 Expired on March 24th. But checked with couple of Big attorneys and they said the Unlawful presence starts from after denial not from I-94 expiry as we applied extension before i-94 expiry. My wife feared to go to india with 4 years kid in Covid. But Attorney told dont wait more than 180 days after denial as it leads to 3 years ban for next visit. But the case is not opened. I found in youtube option of approaching Senator for expediting case. It is simple only. I sent form in email with generated PDF. I got reply from the senator office in 5 days that they put expedite request and case is opened 2 weeks back and USCIS also confirmed when i did chat to them. since Extension is reopened but pending she is in Status and also confirmed all these days Unlawful presence is Nullified.

So whoever applied MTR, I Suggest make Expedite request through senator. I like to help any one going through this Phase. my number 7135740341 (Whatsapp only please)

My wife got biometrics for March first week date and after one week got approval also. Sigh of relief

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I am also in same situation. my son completed more than a year. Any update from your side.