My wife I94 Expired. Applying for H4 Extension with NPT

H4 Visa
1

Hi Friends,
Below are the details of my wife situation.

My wife has been on H4 from 2009. I am on H1 all the time and maintaining correct status. Our last Extension from USCIS came on 03/2018. We got it for 3 years until 03/2021. Both of us got our Visa stamped also until 03/2021. My wife went to india and came back in July 2018. That is when the CBP officer gave her I94 until July 2019 as that is the passport expiry date. We didnt realize about it until last few days. We informed our attorney. They tried working with CBP Officers , but they are not willing to update as its been more than year. Now my attorneys are going to file my H1 Extension ( In Premium), H4 Extension with NPT Application.

Couple of Questions I have

  1. What do you think are the chances of getting H4 Approved with NPT?
  2. If USCIS rejects H4, can she go to India and go for H4 Visa based on my extension approval?

Please provide any suggestions you have.

Regards
Ajith

2

https://www.truvisa.com/t/nunc-pro-tunc-h4-visa-extension-in-progress-can-we-leave-the-country/4261/20
Check the above post @aka457

Also please let me know what attorneys has informed as your wife’s i-94; expiry had crossed 365 days.
Did your attorney suggested to stay or travel immediately

3

My attorneys told us that she cannot travel.

What i understood is its OK to travel as long as its not crossed 180 days being out of status.

4

Thanks for your response,
Is it fine to stay after 180 days? Since I have filed extension after 2 months of i-94 expiry and not sure if I will be getting any updates before 180 days, since currently H4 extension is taking more time due to current covid situation.

Please let me know if you have any details on it. As I couldn’t get any clear updates from attorney and my employer doesn’t support for H4 extension.

Thanks,
Pradeep

5

Hi @Pradeep12

You should not stay beyond 180 days in the US after i94 as you may get a 3 year ban if you do.

6

Hi Anil,
Thanks for your response, since I have filed her extension and got receipt for her extension is it good to wait until I get a decision from USCIS?
Since due to current situation I might not be able to travel soon as I have to get OCI for my two kids as well.

Thanks,
Pradeepkumar

7

Not Yet. We just got her Biometrics done, waiting for the adjudication

8

Are you in somewhat similar situation? What is happening at your end?

9

Hi ajith ,

What is the current status of your wife visa application, is npt approved ?

My wife visa has a validity till march 2022 , but her i94 expired march 2021 due to passport expire , now its more than 6 month . We are now filling her H4 extension and NPT with my H1B extension in premium.
Need your suggestion because you case also looks similar

Thanks

10

Hi Timus,

What is the current status of your wife visa application, is npt approved ?

11

Hi Neeraj, I have the same situation as your wife’s did your NPT application get approved in case you pursued it. I am waiting for a result on my NPT currently filed Nov 3 21.

12

Not yet approved. It was filed on 8th Nov. Process is slow because of h4 backlog. But i know one person who had similar issue and his NPT got approved. He initially got intent to deny but attorney replied to USCIS and then they approved it. Attorney was from fragomen who was handling the case. I am very hopeful that ours will also be approved. So still waiting…if i get any update then will let you know.

13

Thank you for your reply Neeraj! As it happens my attorney is also from Fragomen and informed me last week they received 2 approvals this month on 2 similar cases ( filed May and July 2021 resp.). They can’t guarantee anything but seem confident. Question for you: how long does it take to process an intent to deny is it like an RFE which usually needs to be resolved within 2 months? My attorney said if the NPT gets rejected they would be confident enough to pursue an appeal - but that takes the same amount of time as the H4 ext - so around 7-8 months again- not ideal.

14

As i remember My friends NPT intent to deny was resolved within 1 month after attorney replied. I think attorney replied in 2 weeks and after that within 1 month it was approved. Lets wait and hope for best.

15

We are also in the same situation, What is the process of applying NPT? Is NPT a form that need to submit or just a justification letter to backdate the I-94? How do we apply it?

16

https://forum.am22tech.com/t/h4-extension-after-i-94-expiry/31638/25?u=seenu - please refer the link for more details. I had my npt extension approved for my wife. Yes, NPT is not a separate form, basically we are trying to backdate i-94.

17

Two weeks back i received RFE for my wife’s case. They have asked whether primary applicant i.e I , maintained the legal status before the visa was filed. They asked me for my i797, employee verification of previous employer, three salary slip.

RFE response is submitted. It should get approved becaused they have asked my document and my status was legal always.

18

Hi Neeraj, that’s great! Was just about to update you. My lawyers received my H4 approval notice today. I had received the courtesy notice on March 18th( online status was approved on March 14th). Didn’t receive an RFE but I think your wife’s should get approved too based on my experience. They have backdated my I94 to Mar 10 2021( passport expired Mar 9 2021). Best of luck!

19

@Riya_Sircar How long did the process took for approval?

20

I applied for my H4 renewal along with the NPT on Nov3rd 2021, online status was approved on March14th 2022 so 4.5months and I received my final approval notice by mail last week.