I797B without I94 card- Current I94 expired 8 months back

[maribala]

Hi
My H1B extension was filed on April 2008 by my employer and my employer received a I797B on July23rd.

They havenot filed any amendment so far.In fact I came to know of this only on 5th December 2008.
I am worried. My current I94 expired on April 5 2008.

Questions:
Am I out of status now?
Someone said that I have 180 days to resolve any H1B case.Is this period counting from April 5 2008(old I94 Expiry day) or July 23rd 2008(I797B notice date
If I have to go back to my home country for Visa, will I have any problem on lieu of my I94 expiry status.

Please help urgently with your queries.

[txh1b]

You are illegal, not out of status.You don't have 180 days to resolve anything. You had 30 days from the approval to file for a MTR and request amendment. If your illegal stay was for 180 days or more, you are banned for 3 years from re-entry. You need to get in touch with a good attorney immediately and check out the "nunc pro tunc" options.

[maribala]

Thanks for your response.
I hope I am not illegal and there is a miscommunication between my employer and me. I work for a multinational company who process thousands of H1B cases every year and there is hardly any transparency on how they process the petition. I am worried in the last few days bcos there were no response from my immmigration for my queries and I am left guessing.

USCIS website says my case is received and pending.Added to the confusion, my wife's H4 petition is approved and she has received her I94.

[txh1b]

Don't hope, make sure. If you got a I797B, what I said is TRUE. No doubt about it. Get your HR involved. You are in trouble. Trust me.

[maribala]

my company immigration team has come back saying that CIS has incorrectly(?) issued i797b and they are following it up.

mine is a very straightforward case...i have been with this company payroll since aug2004 and came to usa on deputation from dec2006 and have been with them since then. No break in job,no bench, no transfer between companies.

[txh1b]

Then they should have followed up immediately when it was issued that way. Not wait for so many days and request an amendment. it is YOUR status that is being risked due to their incompetency.