H4 approval notice lost in mail ?

[stevenyogi1]

I have a situation here. Any experiences/suggestions are highly apperciated.

1. My wife's h4 was approved on jan27 and today is feb27. It's been more then 30 days now and we haven't recived the notice yet ? Just wondering how long it takes to recive the notice ? Can we still expect it to arrive or lose the hope of getting it and apply for a duplicate (which will take another 6 mnths or something to come.)

2. If we call uscis will they be able to tell us the expiry date of the new I-94 attached with the approval notice. We just wanted to make sure that we don't overstay.

3. I also got my H1 approved few days before my wife's h4 approval. Is it safe to assume that my wife's I-94 expiry date in her H4 approval notice will be the same as my I-94 in my H1 extension approval notice of action.

4. If in case we file for a duplicate what should we file ? I -824, I - 120 or both ?

thanks in advance.
-Steven

[kabkaba]

Your wife should first call USCIS and get the status. I assume she had entered your home address in the I-539 or if it was filed through your employer, they may have entered their office address or lawyer's address and the I-539 approval notice will then end up there.
Assuming it is lost, your wife can apply for duplicate approval notice and duplicate I-94. (She should apply for both).

[stevenyogi1]

Thank you so much for your response.

We put on our home address when we applied. Also there was an RFE at one point and we submitted the needed documents, so the address in their system should be correct.

1. The issue here is she was planning to start college from this summer (april/may) and now she cannot apply cause she has no I-94 which is a bummer. Any way around it ?

thanks,
Steven

[shervin143]

One way is to leave the country and return back on a valid H4 visa and your (I-797 of the rimary H1B holder) latest approval notice. By showing your latest approval notice at the POE, she wil get a new I-94 matching the same expiry date. Also, ask her to carry the H4 receipt notice so that if asked she can say that the petition got approved by you still did not get the approval notice and it could be lost in mail.