Parent's 2 months stay on I94

[pallavigarg]

Hello,
My parents reached US on Feb 11th and at the port of entry got only a two month stay stamp on their I94. They have a 10 yr multi entry visa and have only visited my brother and me 4 times, totaling about 2 years since 2001.

They were in the US last year until Oct 03 2008 (for 6 months). The officer told them that they should not have returned to the US within 6 months timeframe. He has stamped their I94 with "Stay Limited Per SII NO EOS/COS".

The agent had called me and also 'warned' against trying to extend their stay.

Any advice to better understand the rules regarding the maximum stay in the US and how the time is calculated would be much appreciated. The agent calculated it saying that since they entered US in April 2008, if you look at the 12 months from April 2008-2009, they would have stayed in the US for 8 months and in their home country for about 4 months.
However, if we look at each calendar year separately, they stayed 6+ months in India in 2008, and would have done the same in 2009 even if they left US on Aug 5 (as planned originally).

Is it advisable to file for extension? Would it jeopardize future visits?

[txh1b]

General idea is to spend double the time at the least in the home country before they return and a gap of 1 year between visits is suggested at the very least. If one stayed for 1 year on a prior visit by applying for an extension, they should spend two years at home before trying to return for a long visit.

The CBP officer did the right thing as it has been very well documented that one should "visit" us and not "stay" in US on a visitor visa. Visitor visa is not for a nanny job or to be used as a substitute for baby sitters.

USCIS will reject the extension straight away as the I-94 has the annotation by the CBP officer. Don't even try that. Read other posts on the forum.

[pallavigarg]

contacting congressmen/senators?

Thanks so much for your inputs... couple more questions...

Somebody advised us to contact the area congressmen/senators to appeal the stamp on the I94. Is this advisable? Do they have authority to extend the stay if we can convince them that my parents have no desire to immigrate and have obligations to fulfil back in India?

Would this come into their records as having applied for extension of stay? I do not want to take any action that jeopardizes future visits.

Thanks in advance for your help!
-Pallavi

[PraetorianXI]

Sir,

You are not listening... no congressman or senator is going to help you. USCIS is the law here and the iO did the right thing...

Your parents should not spent more time in the USA than in India in a 12 month rolling window. Period.

Do not even try an extension, send them home and wait until at least December 2009 before having them come again.

They are risking losing their visa.

[txh1b]

No senator can change the annotation on the I-94 and it's impact on extensions getting denied. In their best interest, they should return as per the I-94 to not jeopardize their visa.

[pallavigarg]

Thanks

Thank you both for your responses...

We were just trying to salvage whatever possible of my parents' stay since they will now end up missing several important family events we had planned during their visit.

In addition, the airlines are asking for change fees of almost $700 per person, which is a huge strain on our finances.

It is so depressing to see honest, good people being treated like this when all they were trying to do is vist kids and grand-kids... those who want to anyways immigrate illegally and not much action is taken

oh well... i guess we will have to make the best of the situation...
any advice/inputs on handling airlines and their outrageous change fees would be much appreciated!

[orion]

That change fees is unheard of really! What airlines is that and where did u book through? Was it a suprlow and very restricted ticket with no changes allowed?

[txh1b]

I think you can let that ticket go and buy a new ticket. From where I live, we are getting round trip tickets for $700-900.

[rmakams]

what happened with extension???

HI Pallavigarg,

Just now i came across your thread, and we are in the same boat. My mom after staying for 6 months went back to india and came back within 3 months.
Now they have given only 2 months with "No EOS" stamp.
So just wanted to know what are the possibilities i have here and please please give me any updates you have.

my mom's stay is very important to us, as i am due in 2 weeks and also have 16 months baby at home.

appreciate your help.

Thanks

[immihelp]

Read https://www.immihelp.com/frequent-vi...visitors-visa/