H1B extension - Blue slip - 221G Administrative Processing

[shanmugaraja21]

Hi,

I went for my H1B extension at Chennai on Nov 25th 2015. Interview asked below questions

Person 1 ( Interview in the counter)
1. Have you been in US before ? Yes
2. How many years you have been in US ? 5 years
3. With whom do you work with ? ****
4. For how many years ? 8 years
5. Whats is your gross ? **** *
6. Who is your client your working with ? **** ***
7. Where is it located ? **** ***
8. whats your designation ? **** **
9. what does your role in there ? **** **
10. Have they applied for your I-797 A ? Yes.

Then took my passport gave me a yellow slip asking me to be seated till they call. After an hour and a half was called in a different counter

Person 2 (different counter)
1. do you have your pay stub ? Provided last 6 months of mine
2. do you have your W2 ? Provided all my W2's starting from 2010
3. do you have I797 A ? Provided the original.
4. do you have a letter from client ? Provided the original (she just like that asked why was date not specified)
5. Later she asked what are the other supporting documents i have ? Provided my company's offer letter & current letter, IRS (for the last 4 years) , Bank statement for the last 6 months ?

She later asked for I-129 and when i was looking for it, she asked the whole bunch of papers i was looking at and was referring my old H1B Document I-797B and the I-129 document. She took all the relevant documents needed from the bunch of papers and asked me to wait again.

After another hour of wait i was called by the first person and he said this ..

Person 1 : Sorry to make you wait, but we need more time to check, gave back all the documents taken by person 2 and my passport and said that he doesn't want me to wait gave me a blue slip 221 G. We will check and get back to you.

My wife and kid are back in US and now i am stuck please help me what to do in this situation

Appreciate your time and help on this

[shervin143]

There is nothing much you can do. Your only option is to wait until you get a decision on your H1B visa. The time that takes for an admin process varies from person to person. Unfortunately, your dependents cannot stay in U.S while the primary H1B holder (You) are out of U.S and waiting for the visa to be granted. Your dependents won't be in H4 status when you are not in H1B status.

[shanmugaraja21]

Thanks for your quick response Sherwin.
But my spouse has already got her H4 stamped (for my H1B extension) when she visited alone a couple of months before. In that case isn't she legal to stay or not ?

[shervin143]

Unfortunately NO. Like I said, her H4 visa and entry into U.S on H4 status is based on your (H1B holder) H1B. If you are no longer in H1B status (You hold no status when you are outside U.S), your dependents cannot be in H4 status. Short trips by the H1B holder without the H4 dependents outside U.S is allowed. But long visits (especially when there is a 221g which may sometimes take months to resolve) are not allowed.

Thanks for your quick response Sherwin.
But my spouse has already got her H4 stamped (for my H1B extension) when she visited alone a couple of months before. In that case isn't she legal to stay or not ?