Marriage issue and eligibility of USA visa in the future

PriyaPatel · Mar 15, 2012

Hey Ladies:

I recently came to know about this forum. Am soooooooooooo excited to be here.
Here my issue : I was in USA for few years and came back to India 8-9 months ago. My husband was on H1-B/work visa and I was on an H-4. He also came back permanently, 6 months ago. However, he wants to stay with his aged parents and I’m not willing to do so. It is too much of a hassle. Things have not work out between us and so I staying with my parents for few months.

Now my H-4 visa expire in Nov 2010. I noticed this on my passport few days ago. I’m not sure if my husband renewed his or my I-797 application at the time but I stayed in USA in 2011 too. I don’t hv any documentation in my hand but want to know if I can obtain any other US visa in the future. My uncle’s daughter is getting marry in USA in 5-6 months and I’d like to attend this ceremony. Would it affect my chances to obtain this or any other visa due to my situation?

Also, how can I find out if my husband has any renewal documentation that can help in this regard? We are not talking to each other for some time and so I dunno if I overstay or not. I’d definitely like to attend my cousin’s marriage in USA so your help is really valuable.

Thank You,
Priya

alagarsamy · Mar 15, 2012

Hi Priya,

As per my knowledge, (I have been in US for 2 years in L1B visa - workpermit), once the visa is expired we cant enter the country. So if u wanna attend ur Cousin's marriage, I think u can go for Business visa (valid for 90 days).
When u apply for business visa, they would check your old history (like have u been to US bfore, in what visa u were there etc)...

As u have said u have stayed in 2011 also, I think ur Hubby's visa would have extended tats y ur H4 (dependent visa) also could have extended otherwise they could have created the problem while u cming back to India frm US (as they would chk ur visa status even if u r cming out of tat country)...so dont worry abt it..if possible chk in ur hubby's passport or related docs for extending his and ur visa..

You can go ahead and apply for business visa to attend ur cousin's marriage in US..Hope everything would go fine...

Let me know if you need any more info / clarifications.

May GOD shower all his blessings to you,
Vidhya

renutn · Mar 15, 2012

hi priya...
.if your H4 also got extended along with your H then I797 is valid as per US; but your visa got expired so if you want to re-enter US again means you have to attend consulate interview in India along with your H.
Basically you can't enter US with the current visa you have. Visa is Port of Entry symbol. I797 is proof of US resident alien.
You can apply tourist visa or B1 visa if you want come here again for your cousin's wedding.

SreeSri · Mar 15, 2012

As Renu has mentioned above,
1) If your spouse has extended his H1 & your H4 together in 2010, then you are safe and not "over stayed". All you need is a copy of your H4 & his H1 extension papers.(but you have mentioned that you dont know if it was really done and you also are not in the terms of getting a copy if its there, from your spouse)
2) If you happened to be in the OVER Stayed situation from the above (1), you may likely run into issues for any future immigration purpose(no matter its a tourist visa or other kind of visa).
Solutions:
1) First work on confirming the above fact (1), if He has renewed the H visas for both of you, obtain a copy(at least the petition numbers). This gives you the mental freedom of the fact that "I am not over stayed"
2) If the above turned out to be false, he didnt renew it or you have no proof of your H4 renewal, you need to work with a lawyer for a possible work around.
3) Think about your cousin marriage stuff only after (1) and (2).
Good luck

Moderators: You may want to move this thread to the Immigration Issues forum..

PriyaPatel · Mar 16, 2012

Ladies:

Thank you sooooooooo much for all your reply. I clearly understand one thing : I overstay in US if my petition was not renew.

I also want to clarify my question for other scenario : Even if my husband renew my petition in 2010, I don’t know. My last visa expired in Nov 2010 and I stay in US in 2011.

So even if my petition was renew in 2010, will the US visa consulate know about this automatically (as I don’t have any documents for prove this) when I apply for a different visa (tourist visa or business visa) in future or I need to show something to them? How will this affect me to get the new visa? Can they ask me to show documents that allowed me to stay in US from Nov 2010 to 2011?

Thank you once again for your help.
Priya

renutn · Mar 16, 2012

Hi priya,

I can clearly understand you don't want to bring your H and want to do on your own.
Firstly, you are not aware your visa got renewed or not but you stayed in 2011. Even though USCIS has a document but until unless there is some intervene they won't be knowing whether you overstayed or not.

Secondly, assume your H4 got extended and you don't have I797 proof. But want to apply for other visa.
Yes you can do that. In the case of B1 visa your employer will be filing and you are going for business purpose.
Consulate will not have any objections as long as the questions were straight answered.
In port of entry too you have to mention B1 visa or tourist visa; else you will be in trouble.