SanSaw

Hello All,
My wife (H4) and I (H1B) got our visas re-validated from the US Dept of State. However, the returned package had our passports with the new visas but not the original I-797's for the both of us.

Now, my wife has to travel outside the US and my questions are:
1) Could the officials (airlines or any other) at the airport create an issue over the missing original I-797 or the missing new I-94 that came with the I-797? or, will a copy of the original suffice?
2) Would there be a problem at her POE on return?
3) I am writing an affadivit which states that our originals have not been returned and will get the same notarized, also my wife will be carrying a copy of my I-797 notice, is there anything else that we need to do?

Thanks in advance to all who reply.

SS

SanSaw

Spoke with an immigration officer and found that there will not be any issue with her travelling outside the USA. Thx to all who tried to find an answer.

Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 15:22:06 +0000, SanSaw wrote:


    > Hello All,
    > My wife (H4) and I (H1B) got our visas re-validated from the US Dept of
    > State. However, the returned package had our passports with the new
    > visas but not the original I-797's for the both of us.
    >
    > Now,
    > my wife's travelling outside the US of A and my questions were: 1) Could
    > the officials (airlines or any other) at the airport create an issue
    > over the missing original I-797 or the missing new I-94 that came with
    > the I-797? or, will a copy of the original suffice?

The airline probably won't care, but the immigration officer at the
airport may. Try and contact the consulate; it was almost certainly a
mistake on their part, and with luck, you may be able to get the I-797s
back.

By the way, the I-94s are supposed to be missing! You were supposed to
tear off the new I-94s and staple them to your original I-94s before
leaving the USA, and then hand them over to the airline upon departure.

    > 2) Would there be a problem at her POE on return?

Probably not, although you never know.

    > 3) I am writing an affadivit which states that our originals have not
    > been returned and will get the same notarized, is there anything else
    > that we need to do?

See above - contact the consulate.

Also, if you can't get the I-797 back, you can try and apply for a
replacement I-797 after you return to the USA.

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please support H.R. 539, H.R. 832 and S. 1510. More information at
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Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email

A word of caution: immigration officers are the least reliable source of
information you can find! People did get deported for following bad advice
from immigration officers.

Immigration officers usually aren't lawyers. Asking one for legal advice
would be like asking a nurse assistant to perform brain surgery.

That said, *usually* there won't be a problem, but you can't be sure.

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 21:57:32 +0000, SanSaw wrote:


    > Spoke with an immigration officer and found that there will not be any
    > issue with her travelling outside the USA. Thx to all who tried to find
    > an answer.

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please support H.R. 539, H.R. 832 and S. 1510. More information at
http://www.kkeane.com/lobbyspousal-faq.shtml

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection. See
my Web site for information on how to contact me.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

Manish

You should contact US Dept of State, as they did not return your original I-797's. Talk to them on phone or send fax, DOS some time did this mistake in past but returned the papers, provide the copy of your recent Visa stamp so they can locate the papers, you must also provide the date you sent your passports for Visa revalidation, your date of birth complete name as on I797, validity. DOS Washington DC has phone # talk to them visit the DOS site you may find the phone # and FAX

crg

I'd say it all depends which officer you speak to. Some don't know the law, and others sleep with a copy of the INA under their pillow and know it cover to cover. The information officers are the same way.

Bad immigration lawyers and consulatants get people into tons of trouble as well.

Immigration officers prepare cases that are sent before judges, and order people removed from the United States at the border and that order carries as much weight as if it were done by an immigration judge. Many have lots of practice with the law.

A lot of people that claim "bad advice" get accurate answers that they don't want to hear. Then they keep asking different people the same question until one tells them they can do what they want to do. Some get bad advice the first time they ask.

Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email

On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:50:51 +0000, crg14624 wrote:


    > Originally posted by Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email
    >
    >> A word of caution: immigration officers are the least reliable
    > source of
    >> information you can find! People did get deported for
    > following bad advice
    >> from immigration officers.
    >>
    >> Immigration
    > officers usually aren't lawyers. Asking one for legal advice
    >> would be
    > like asking a nurse assistant to perform brain surgery.
    >>
    >> That said,
    > *usually* there won't be a problem, but you can't be sure.
    >>
    >> On Thu,
    > 12 Feb 2004 21:57:32 +0000, SanSaw wrote:
    >>
    >>
    >> > Spoke with an
    > immigration officer and found that there will not be any
    >> >
    > issue with her travelling outside the USA. Thx to all who tried to find
    >> > an answer.
    >>
    >>
    > I'd say it all depends which officer
    > you speak to. Some don't know the law, and others sleep with a copy of
    > the INA under their pillow and know it cover to cover. The information
    > officers are the same way.

Agreed, some do know the law very well. Unfortunately, those tend not to
be the front-line people, but rather get assigned to back-room duties,
exactly because they are better qualified.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to knock immigration officers. These are
hard-working people, and they are usually good at what they are supposed
to do. The misunderstanding is in that they are not even supposed to
interpret the law. There is a reason immigration officers, especially
those you get to talk to as an individual, are making little more than
minimum wage, while lawyers make well over $100/hour, some much more than
that.

    > Bad immigration lawyers and consulatants get people into tons of trouble
    > as well.

Stay away from "immigration consultants". They don't call themselves
lawyers for a reason, and many end up prosecuted for practicing law
without a license.

Lawyers can be bad, too, of course, but they at least have to adhere to a
certain level of professionalism, study law for years (rather than the
crash-course that immigration officers get) and pass the bar examination.
This still is not a guarantee, but the odds of getting good advice are
much better.

It's really not much different from asking an experienced neurosurgeon vs.
asking somebody who just completed a CPR class about brain surgery. There
are bad neurosurgeons, too.

    > Immigration officers prepare cases
    > that are sent before judges, and order people removed from the United
    > States at the border and that order carries as much weight as if it were
    > done by an immigration judge. Many have lots of practice with the law.

First, these are not the immigration officers you would be talking to on
the phone or when you go to an immigration office. The people working the
counters and phones tend to be the low-paid bottom rung people whose job
it is to accept and pass out paperwork. For that matter, as far as I know,
the phone lines are actually not even staffed by government employees but
by a private contractor.

Second, many, many lawsuits against CIS are won because these immigration
officers didn't know the law and falsely denied applications.

    > A lot of people that claim "bad advice" get accurate answers that they
    > don't want to hear.

Agreed.

    > Then they keep asking different people the same question until one tells
    > them they can do what they want to do. Some get bad advice the first
    > time they ask.

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please support H.R. 539, H.R. 832 and S. 1510. More information at
http://www.kkeane.com/lobbyspousal-faq.shtml

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection. See
my Web site for information on how to contact me.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.