Many individuals who come to the United States on a visitor visa would like to extend their visa. They can apply for extension of stay in the U.S. The extension may granted or not granted depending upon the reason for the extension, and whether the USCIS is convinced that the applicant does intend to return to his/her home country after the temporary stay in US.

Please note that you should not apply for an extension of stay within 3 months of coming to the USA otherwise USCIS may conclude that even before entering USA, you were planning to extend the visa which might be in contrast to what you might have said at the consulate or at the port of entry.

The duration for which the person can stay depends upon the expiration date of the I-94, and NOT on the expiration date of the visa stamp. The date on the visa stamp is irrelevant. As long as you apply for the extension before the expiration date of the I-94, you would be in legal status (up to 240 days) and you will not have stayed in US unlawfully.

It should be applied between about 4 to 6 weeks before the I-94 expires.

If you are the principal wage earner for your family, visiting the United States alone and have left your family (spouse, children) behind in your home country, you really need to show good reasons and proof why you need to stay in the U.S. much longer and how your family will be taken care of properly in your home country. Very long separation from your immediate family is not considered too good in eyes of USCIS. You should also show that your job or business in your home country would not be in jeopardy for staying away for a long time. You are employed, you can show a letter from your employer that they are aware of you staying in the U.S. for a long time.

You can not go to neighboring countries (Canada, Mexico) either by air or road, and come back to get a new I-94 and therefore avoid the lengthy process of applying for extension. A new I-94 will NOT be given. You can't even go to neighboring islands such as the Bahamas etc and come back to get new I-94. You will have to actually travel outside of North America and come back.

An extension will be given usually for the duration you ask for and give justification for the same. However, the maximum duration for extension you can ask for is 6 months. Also, you can not apply for a visitor visa extension as many times as you want. The maximum you can stay on B1/B2 visa is 1 year.

As long as you stay in U.S. legally and do not violate any terms of the visa you are on, you will not get into any trouble while applying for a greencard, just because you applied for a visa extension.

If you are late filing for an extension and your authorized stay has already expired, you must prove that:

• The delay was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond your control;
• The length of the stay was reasonable;
• You have not done anything else to violate your nonimmigrant status (visitors can not work in the U.S.)
• You are still a non immigrant. It means that you or someone on your behalf have not filed an immigrant visa petition.
• You are not in formal proceedings to remove (deport) you from the United States.

• Form I-539 (Extension of stay/change of status).
  
  
• Fee for filing extension of visitor visa. Even if a spouse/children are also included in the same form, the total fee is to be paid just once and there is no extra charge for additional applicants. There is no biometric fee.
  
  Fee Details
  
  
• Even though the form says you must send the original I-94, you must only send the photocopy of Form I-94. Do NOT send the original. You are not required to send the original. If you sent the original by mistake, and if you need it back, you can file form G-884 with USCIS. G-884 is not available onine. You have to request it by mail.
  More details
  
  
• Copies of all pages of your passport (including blank ones), which are valid for your entire requested period of stay in the U.S.
  
  
• Proof of financial support (see Visitor Visa section for this)
  
  
• A copy of your return air tickets (this would be helpful to show that the stay is temporary) Either actual paper tickets or eTickets are good. If you are presenting the eTicket, make sure it has the ticket number etc. and not simply an itinerary.
  
  
• You should also send the reason for extension (you could give the reasons like, yet to see the other coast of US etc.). You should write a letter regarding this.
  Sample Letter
  
  

Form I539 (Extension of stay/change of status), along with all the documents above should be filed to the USCIS service center depending upon your location.

If you live in:
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin or Wyoming,

Send it to
USCIS California Service Center
P.O. Box 10539
Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-1053

If you live in:
Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, or the District of Columbia

Send it to
USCIS Vermont Service Center
75 Lower Welden Street
St. Albans, VT 05479-0001

Before mailing the application, documents and fees, make a photocopy of everything and keep it in a safe place. Use certified mail to send your application with a return receipt requested. This can be done at any US post office. This gives you the assurance that USCIS really received your application and in case of any trouble, you can prove that you sent the application before the expiration of the I-94. This will help you insist USCIS locate your application in case they loose it. You can't really send using a private courier such as FedEx or UPS because they don't deliver to PO Boxes.

You can also apply online at I539. You will be notified later if they need anything else.

When USCIS receives your application, it will enter your application into their system and send you the 'Receipt'. Keep the receipt in a safe place. It may take up to 4 to 6 weeks before you actually receive the receipt. Once USCIS makes the decision, they will mail you either the approval or denial letter. In rare cases, they may call you for an interview at the local USCIS office.

If USCIS wants further information before processing your case, all documents you submitted will be returned along with form I-72 that tell you what additional information or documents are required. You should supply additional documents and information and mail the entire package back to USCIS service center.

If you are approved, you can simply stay until the date you are granted an extension. The approval letter will have a new I-94 card that you should tear off and staple it in your passport. When you leave the United States, give both I-94 cards (one which you got when you entered the U.S. and another one when you got the extension) to the airline staff when you check in at the airport. You should save the approval letter, boarding passes and copies of airline tickets with you. They will be useful to when you want to visit the U.S. next time. It will prove that you left on time and you were not staying unlawfully.

If your extension is rejected, and if you are in the US past your I-94 date, you have to leave immediately as you get out of status immediately. It is understood that there are practical difficulties in leaving on same day it takes time to arrange the air tickets, pack the bags and so on, but legally, there is no grace period. Also, if you previously had a multiple entry visa, that visa is void now and you will have to apply all over again at the consulate when you want to visit next time. You may consult an immigration lawyer to see if they can negotiate with USCIS for you to depart voluntarily by a certain date that is practical so that you can make tickets and other arrangements. You can NOT appeal this rejection decision. A senator or congressman can NOT help in this case.

If your extension is denied, following docs need to be sent to the USCIS after you exit the country after an extension denial:

• Original denial letter
• Original boarding pass
• copy of biographical page of passport
• copy of entry stamp in new country
• Letter saying that applicant overstayed because he/she was awaiting a decision on an extension application

Applicant should carry copies of all above documents on his/her next visit to US.

If the response is a denial, and your I-94 has expired, the CIS generally allows you 30 days to depart the U.S. starting from the date on the letter notifying you of their decision to deny an extension. If you do not depart within 30 days, you will be considered deportable. The CIS cautions that if you are refused permission to extend your stay, you may encounter problems with Consulates overseas the next time you apply for a U.S. visa because their computer records will indicate that you did not leave the U.S. within the time frame of your intial period of entry. Be sure to keep your rejection letter and proof of the date of your departure (a boarding pass is the best thing, but passport stamps showing entry into another country is also helpful) to give the consulate the next time you apply for a new visa. Having those may mitigate your apparant overstay and could improve your chances of renewing your visa without the five year restriction usually applied to people that have overstayed their visit.

If you are in the US past your I-94 date, and if your visitor visa extension is denied and if you have any 10 year multiple entry visa, that visa is considered automatically cancelled under section 222(g) of the INA. When the visa is cancelled, they don't have to stamp or strike off the actual visa stamp in the passport. They just make an entry in their computer. That means, if you try to enter the U.S. with that visa stamp again, you will not be allowed.
Even though some people have reported that they were allowed entry into the U.S. after such an incident, there are others who have been denied.

If you would like to leave the U.S. before you get the receipt or before your application is approved(or denied), you can simply leave the U.S. as normal. Your relative in the US should keep the receipt date and later approval/denial letter.

If you think your case is taking too long to get processed, you are not alone. USCIS typically takes lots of time to process any application. There are many reasons for this and beyond discussions here.

Receipt Delay:
When you file your extension, you should receive an official receipt from USCIS within 4 to 6 weeks. (This is just the receipt saying that they received your application and not actual approval/denial letter.)

If it has been six weeks since you sent your application, and you have not heard anything, you can write a courteous, clear, short to the point letter asking for the status.
Sample Letter

Tracking:
While your application is pending, you can track its status online. Online case tracking

Before you can track your application status, you must have received the official receipt and it should have assigned you a case number for your application. Depending upon the service center you filed your application, the number prefix would vary.

You can also track your application by calling them, but it may take a lot of time before you can get through, and after too, you may not be able to get any useful information, other than the operator saying your case is pending.

Processing Delay:
When you get the receipt that your application has been received, it will mention approximate processing times. If you try to inquire about your case status before that time duration has passed, they will ignore you. If that duration has passed and you have not received any result, you can write a letter to them asking for its status. Again, be nice, courteous and write a short letter. Don't write a big personal story. If you don't hear from USCIS after 1 month, write a similar letter once more. After that you can write another letter every 2 weeks until you get an answer. However, don't write anything that would indicate that you are upset. Never try to threaten or insult them, otherwise you may face criminal charges and your application would be rejected.
Sample Letter