Immigration to the United States should pay attention to whether the identity of yourself and your family is "expired"

Did the immigration lawyer remind everyone to check the immigration status of you and your family? Expired? First of all, I suggest you check the validity of your certificate to see if there is any need to extend it or if there are any mistakes.

1. Check the validity of passport: Is the passport about to expire? Remember to extend your passport if it is about to expire. When entering the United States, usually the longest I-94 period allowed by the customs to stay in the United States is the validity period of your passport. Holding passports from some countries may increase the validity of entry for six months. In other words, if you plan to stay in the United States for three months, the passport should be valid for more than nine months. In addition, when applying for extension or transfer in the United States, you must have a valid passport to apply. So, at the beginning of this new year, don't forget to check your passport to see if your validity period has expired.

2. Check the correctness of your I-94 information: I-94 refers to your legal residence certificate in the United States. Although you don't need to fill in the entry and exit record card (I-94 card) when you enter the country, which is also commonly known as the I-94 small white card, I-94 still exists and its importance remains unchanged.

3. Check the validity period of your I-94: Unless the immigration official indicates that I-94 cannot be extended or changed, you can usually ask the immigration to change your other identity or extend your existing identity in the United States within the validity period indicated on the I-94. We often meet many people who have entered the country legally and kept their legal status, but because of a moment's negligence, we forgot to postpone the action before the expiration of I-94, which affected your status. This often happens to applicants of H- 1B and L- 1. In addition, because I-94 is no longer issued by the customs at the time of entry, many people are not concerned about whether the validity period of I-94 is consistent with that of H- 1B or L- 1 of the Immigration Bureau. Only then did I find that my passport had expired, and only then did I find that the validity period of I-94 given by the customs at the time of entry was not H- 1B, nor was it L- 1. Therefore, in the new year, don't forget to check the validity period of your I-94 and apply for identity extension in time.

4. Don't forget your spouse and children when you postpone or change your identity: If your I-94 expires, don't forget to check the identity of your spouse and children when you propose to postpone or change your identity. When you apply for extension of H- 1B, your family members' extension of H-4 should also be submitted. When the Immigration Bureau approves your extension of H- 1B, their H-4 status should also be extended. In general, your H- 1B and H-4 should be valid for the same time. Especially when changing bodies, don't forget to bring your spouse and children. Especially in April this year 1, the application for the new year H- 1B will start again. If you are now F- 1 and your home is F-2, remember to help them apply for H-4.

5. Do you have the same I-94 time as your family? In a few cases, when you propose to change employers with H- 1B, in order to save the application fee, you choose not to postpone H-4 temporarily when your spouse and children still have a long H-4. In this case, remember that your family's H-4 status is short, and remember to apply for an extension before their status expires.

For example, your and your wife's original identities of H- 1B and H-4 expired on September 30, 20 16, and when you applied for H- 1B from Company A to Company B on September 30, 20 14, you transferred your H-65438+. Because your wife's H-4 still has two years to expire, in order to save the application fee, only your H- 1B has changed employers and has been postponed. Therefore, your wife's H-4 will expire at the end of September this year. Don't forget to apply for an extension of H-4 before it expires.

I-94 controls your status in the United States and how long you can stay. No matter how many I-94 cards you have taken in the past, the last I-94 card issued by the Immigration Bureau represents your current status in the United States and the time you can stay.

6.F- 1 students check the validity of your I-20: after foreign students enter the United States with an F- 1 visa, except for the D/S (identity duration) indicated on I-94, the valid time on the I-20 is the time when the United States allows you to stay in the United States. Whenever your school materials change, such as transfer, extension of graduation time or extension of other degrees, the school DSO will issue you a new I-20, and indicate the validity period of your student status, and your student materials will also be input into the computer system of ICE SEVIS. As long as you have a valid I-20 and continue to attend classes, your legal status in the United States is no problem. Therefore, if you have any changes in your studies, please remember to contact the school's DSO to ensure your legal status.

What is more special is the approval of F- 1 OPT and h-1b. For example, if your F- 1 OPT expires on March 20 16, but you applied for H- 1B last year and got approval successfully, the effective date is 206544. If you don't work for the employer of H- 1B for any reason, your H- 1B will still be at 20/kloc-0 unless you apply for cancellation of H- 1B and return to the status of F- 1 OPT before September 30th, 20 15. F- 1 OPT also expires on September 30th, 20 15, so it is impossible to continue the identity of F- 1 OPT after June 30th, 2010.

Therefore, if you find that your or your family's I-94 has expired, please contact your lawyer as soon as possible to discuss the feasible solution. In some cases, even if your I-94 has expired, an immigration lawyer can help you solve your identity problem.