Last year me and my husband travelled to India while having valid H1 and H4 VISA respectively which were good for another 2 months.
H1B and H4 extended at Port of entry with new i94
Meanwhile My husband applied for a H1B extension which got approved and at the port of entry while coming back to USA after a month the CBP officer issued us both new i94 until Dec 2020 .
No H4 i797 available as H4 extension was never filed
Now when I am applying for a passport renewal at CKGS they are asking for my i797 which I don’t have since my husbands employer haven’t applied for my H4 extension along with my husbands H1 extension.
I submitted my husbands i797 along with my valid i94 to CKGS but they are still asking for my i797.
I would really appreciate if anyone can advise anything.
I can understand the frustration it may have caused to you.
If you have time available before your passport expires, then, you can wait for Indian embassy response.
If not much time if left for passport expiry, get your H4 stamped in passport by going to either Mexico or Canada or India. This would be a quick fix. I know its not really required as per US law, but i can;t really think of why CKGS has done it this way.
But, please confirm with CKGS first that they will accept H4 visa stamp.
Recently, they have taken the Visa option also off front their list of acceptable Legal status proof. I am not sure why have they done it.
Did you call Indian embassy and ask for clarification?
They may also just give a standard response though. But, it is good to check before taking another action.
Has CKGS accepted that they will accept H4 stamped visa as valid proof?
If they do not accept H4 stamp either, then the only option would be either file H4 extension using form i539 and then file for passport renewal or get your passport renewed in India.
I have filled the CKGS form but cancelled due to below issues that it may rejected hence called Helpdesk for confirmation and awaiting reply from them . But if you have any suggestions that would help a lot.
I have similar issue for my kid that visa expired in September 2019 but i94 is valid until 2021(that’s legal status) and passport about to expire 15Dec 2019. Not sure whether they can accept primary applicant i797 and i94. I am awaiting reply from CKGS .
I see in the Indian embassy portal if there is no legal status they give EC but that’s for who don’t have legal status in my case i have legal status i94. But look like they don’t accept i94.
My kid don’t have h4 i797 , employer not filed so far. Requested for processing but if they start filing in next few weeks that may not accept the expired passport in the i539 form.
In both ways stuck like proceeding with h4 i797 and passport renewal. If passport expired then it will be even more critical…
@Anil_Gupta
I am in the same situation, i provided a notorized color copy of my dependent visa (h4) stamp page , i don’t have a I-797 as the stamping was done at the consulate.
Unfortunately with Coronavirus we cannot visit the embassy . I have emailed CKGS Support and waiting for their response.
Any suggestions in this matter.
I-94 should be the first thing they should look at as proof of Legal Status/Stay in US but not sure what creteria CKGS/Consulate has in this situation.