Can't renew H1B in US - State Department
Oct 25th 2002, 2:00 pm
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Can't renew H1B in US - State Department
After 6 weeks of impatiently waiting for an H1B renewal from
Washington's Department of State, I finally got my passort back today.
The news? Bad! very bad! the letter states that "Your application is
not clearly approvable at this time. You must apply for a new visa
overseas at a U.S embassy or consulate that processes nonimmigrant
visa applications."
I'm not all that surprised of this decision...why? well i'm from
Morocco, an Arab country in north africa. So what is my crime? nothing
more than just being an arab working in the US and therefore being
profiled against. If you have to know...I've already bought a
non-refundable plain ticket to France to visit my girlfriend in France
in late November during thanksgiving holiday which i didn't see in
more than 3 months. Forget about it! it's not happening.
To make matters worse, the moron at the port of entry, instead of
putting the date of the expiration of the approval status (I-797) on
the I-94 which is 12/04, he put the date of the last visa issued which
is 10/02. So now , as of this writing (10/25), i'm out of status!
(although i sent my passport to DOS for visa renewal by 9/13).
What am i to do? is this a serious situation? can i tell them that
it's not my fault...it's the officer's fault at the port of entry? how
long will it take to get a H1B visa renewal from morocco? (my vacation
for this year has already been used up!). I'm just so tired of this
visa crap guys...i'm about to give up and go back home. Any advice
please? Thanks! Peace!
Your reply to [email protected] (remove -NoSpam-) is
greatly appreciated!
Thank you guys!
Samir
Washington's Department of State, I finally got my passort back today.
The news? Bad! very bad! the letter states that "Your application is
not clearly approvable at this time. You must apply for a new visa
overseas at a U.S embassy or consulate that processes nonimmigrant
visa applications."
I'm not all that surprised of this decision...why? well i'm from
Morocco, an Arab country in north africa. So what is my crime? nothing
more than just being an arab working in the US and therefore being
profiled against. If you have to know...I've already bought a
non-refundable plain ticket to France to visit my girlfriend in France
in late November during thanksgiving holiday which i didn't see in
more than 3 months. Forget about it! it's not happening.
To make matters worse, the moron at the port of entry, instead of
putting the date of the expiration of the approval status (I-797) on
the I-94 which is 12/04, he put the date of the last visa issued which
is 10/02. So now , as of this writing (10/25), i'm out of status!
(although i sent my passport to DOS for visa renewal by 9/13).
What am i to do? is this a serious situation? can i tell them that
it's not my fault...it's the officer's fault at the port of entry? how
long will it take to get a H1B visa renewal from morocco? (my vacation
for this year has already been used up!). I'm just so tired of this
visa crap guys...i'm about to give up and go back home. Any advice
please? Thanks! Peace!
Your reply to [email protected] (remove -NoSpam-) is
greatly appreciated!
Thank you guys!
Samir
Oct 25th 2002, 3:41 pm
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 197
Re: Can't renew H1B in US - State Department
I hear you, dude, very well. The God-damned INS will waste your life and money, and give you ulcers..they are bunch of low-life, low-wage, low-everything losers. My advise to you and anyone on H1-B who is having trouble is pack up and go home before you lose whatever brain cells you have left. Or immigrate to Canada. If you know French, Quebec will be easy for you. Don't let the INS toss you around. They are nobody.
Oct 28th 2002, 2:49 am
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Can't renew H1B in US - State Department
"unidodo" wrote...
> I've already bought a non-refundable plain ticket to France...
One thing you might consider is to try to get an entry visa through a US
consulate in France. It may be possible to set up an appointment so that it
happens while you're visiting in France. On the other hand, I remember
seeing something in this newsgroup about a month-long background check for
men of Arab origin.... Try to contact the US embassy in France and talk to
them (or go to their website, if they have one).
> He put the date of the last visa issued which
> is 10/02. So now , as of this writing (10/25), i'm out of status!
I doubt that having an expired date on your I-94 makes you "out of status."
I think the only thing would make you out of status is if your H1-B status
ended (you were laid off/fired or your 3-year limit ran out). I wouldn't
worry about it -- I think your main worry is how to get an entry visa so you
can vacation outside the U.S.
-John
> I've already bought a non-refundable plain ticket to France...
One thing you might consider is to try to get an entry visa through a US
consulate in France. It may be possible to set up an appointment so that it
happens while you're visiting in France. On the other hand, I remember
seeing something in this newsgroup about a month-long background check for
men of Arab origin.... Try to contact the US embassy in France and talk to
them (or go to their website, if they have one).
> He put the date of the last visa issued which
> is 10/02. So now , as of this writing (10/25), i'm out of status!
I doubt that having an expired date on your I-94 makes you "out of status."
I think the only thing would make you out of status is if your H1-B status
ended (you were laid off/fired or your 3-year limit ran out). I wouldn't
worry about it -- I think your main worry is how to get an entry visa so you
can vacation outside the U.S.
-John
Oct 29th 2002, 9:22 am
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Can't renew H1B in US - State Department
"JK" wrote in message news:...
> > He put the date of the last visa issued which
> > is 10/02. So now , as of this writing (10/25), i'm out of status!
> I doubt that having an expired date on your I-94 makes you "out of status."
> I think the only thing would make you out of status is if your H1-B status
> ended (you were laid off/fired or your 3-year limit ran out). I wouldn't
> worry about it -- I think your main worry is how to get an entry visa so you
> can vacation outside the U.S.
Excuse me, but that's completely wrong. If your I-94 has expired, you
ARE out of status, end of story.
To the original poster: I'm afraid you have no choice. You must go to
Morocco (and to no other country) as soon as possible and wait out
however long it takes to get a new visa. The good news is that the
mandatory month-long waiting period has been repealed; the bad news is
that the consulate can take its sweet time to issue the visa, and
could take months to do so.
So... I'm afraid that you will have to arrange some serious remote
teleworking with your employer. You might take the risk of carrying on
working until Thanksgiving, and going to Morocco from France (changing
the return date on your plane ticket), but (as I understand it) as a
matter of law, you are now working illegally and must leave the
country as soon as possible.
You really should contact a reputable immigration attorney as soon as
possible to rectify this mess -- advice (including mine) given on
newsgroups and message boards is often wrong.
> > He put the date of the last visa issued which
> > is 10/02. So now , as of this writing (10/25), i'm out of status!
> I doubt that having an expired date on your I-94 makes you "out of status."
> I think the only thing would make you out of status is if your H1-B status
> ended (you were laid off/fired or your 3-year limit ran out). I wouldn't
> worry about it -- I think your main worry is how to get an entry visa so you
> can vacation outside the U.S.
Excuse me, but that's completely wrong. If your I-94 has expired, you
ARE out of status, end of story.
To the original poster: I'm afraid you have no choice. You must go to
Morocco (and to no other country) as soon as possible and wait out
however long it takes to get a new visa. The good news is that the
mandatory month-long waiting period has been repealed; the bad news is
that the consulate can take its sweet time to issue the visa, and
could take months to do so.
So... I'm afraid that you will have to arrange some serious remote
teleworking with your employer. You might take the risk of carrying on
working until Thanksgiving, and going to Morocco from France (changing
the return date on your plane ticket), but (as I understand it) as a
matter of law, you are now working illegally and must leave the
country as soon as possible.
You really should contact a reputable immigration attorney as soon as
possible to rectify this mess -- advice (including mine) given on
newsgroups and message boards is often wrong.
