Mumbai H1 consulate interview

[kk83]

I was on H4 and my husband on H1B in January. He got laid off, but then within 10 days applied for a H1/H4 visa transfer extension thru this new company. He started working after rcpt was obtained by uscis. He got his h1b visa denied. Now both of us are back in India. He has paystubs with the new company till the date of denial. Since we were out of status for 10 days and our visa was denied, i have the following questions:

-should we answer yes/no in form ds156- has ur visa ever been refused?
-In Q "have u ever violated the terms of us visa/have been unlawfully presnt/deported"-yes/no. Our I94 expiry date is in oct 2009
-Since I am going for a consulate interview for my H1B and my husband will go for H4-we will always say the truth, but will it cause problems, because apart from 10 days out of status, we have been 100% legal in this country.
-Does the consulate even know we were out of status for sucha a short time, because the gap in paystubs in 10 days max.
Please help me.

[txh1b]

What was the reason for denial of the petition? The consulate can know.

Visa refusal question is for the visa at a consulate. If your visa was refused at a consular post, that determines your answer.

As far as violated the visa terms or deported, being out of status is kind of a violation but it is based on the I-94. It deserves a Yes if you worked illegally on H4, worked outside campus on a F1 etc. You can explain the Out of status period to the VO.

Being out of status and being illegal are different things. You were not illegal and that should determine your answer.

[kk83]

So in that case, my answer shud be "NO" for visa refused question and the other "violated" question. The denial was because of insufficient documents submitted by the employer. It wasnt my mistake and hopefully shudnt affect me. Can I always say that, the employer never gave me the specifics, he just gave me the reason of denial. And shud i write anywhere on the DS 156 form, that my H4 visa transfer/extension was denied by USCIS/CSC dated "xx/xx/xxxx" or I dont need to.
CAn someone help plz.
Regards,

Komal

What was the reason for denial of the petition? The consulate can know.

Visa refusal question is for the visa at a consulate. If your visa was refused at a consular post, that determines your answer.

As far as violated the visa terms or deported, being out of status is kind of a violation but it is based on the I-94. It deserves a Yes if you worked illegally on H4, worked outside campus on a F1 etc. You can explain the Out of status period to the VO.

Being out of status and being illegal are different things. You were not illegal and that should determine your answer.

[txh1b]

I don't think there is room on DS156 to explain anything. You can mention to VO.

[kk83]

Thank you for ur inputs txh1b

One last question. So u suggest that once my interview starts i shud mention it to the VO beforehand, even if he hasnt asked me any question abt denial?
again thanks for all ur clear answers and sorry for asking u again

I don't think there is room on DS156 to explain anything. You can mention to VO.

[DMX17]

I would not just go in the interview and start explaining first thing. When the VO gets to that question.....you should (NOT "shud") start explaining that it was 10 days out of status and you were not sure whether that would be considered violation of visa terms since your I-94 was still valid.