H4 extension approved when the person is outside US

Hey Anil,

I got my H1 transfer approved 3 months back and it is valid till December 2022. The company also applied for H4 extension along with it.

My wife’s previous H4 was valid till April 2021 and it was stamped as well. After applying my wife had to leave US on a family emergency.

The H4 extension petition was approved last week till December 2022, same as my H1.

I understand she wont have any trouble travelling to USA as her visa is stamped till April 2021. My question is while applying for H4 EAD (expring in April 2021) , should we apply for H4 extension as well?

As she was outside US when her H4 was approved, will that make it invalid?

Really appreciate what you do in this forum. Thanks

Hey Anil, can you please advise?

You will have to apply for H4 extension again as the current one will be useless.

What matters most is the validity of i94 which will be restricted to her H4 visa stamp on the day of entry. To extend i94, you will have to file H4 extension again.

Or what she can try doing is show your approved H1B i797 to Immigration officer at the time of entry and request extended i94. If officer agrees and gives e extended i94 validity, then there won’t be any need to file H4 extension again.

Thanks for the reply Anil. She got her I 94 extended by showing my h1b copy. Now we are in the process of applying H4 EAD and have a question on the same. While applying for EAD will the I94 copy be sufficient? Should I send the H4 approval notice as well. This was approved when she was in India and has the old I 94 number. So thinking sending this might lead to confusion.