How can I extend my wifes US visa???

Question

My wife is on H1B visa which expires on sep 2009 and her permanent residence application was denied recently.I will be elgible to file for her on 2010 sep, to change her status,unless there is something wrong with my citizenship application.Is there any way she could stay with me during the time frame between 2009 and 2010?? what are the choices?? does she has to go back when her H1B visa expires in 2009 sep.??

Answer 1

She could enroll in an eligible educational institution as a student.  She could change her status from H1B to F1.  Of course, tuitions for international students are astronomical.

Answer 2

There is a logical reason she was denied. An H1b visa is a non-immigrant visa and it is expected that the worker will return home when it expires.

Since she got married and demonstrated she intended to stay, they denied her visa due to the way you went about applying for it.

If you really want her to be able to immigrate to the US she has to return to her country as required and then apply for a green card.

IF she overstays on the H1b she may be deported and banned from reentry

Answer 3

Well, the visa may expire on September 2009, but is she still employed with the sponsoring employer? It is a bit unusual to get turned down like this, unless the sponsor withdraws support, which they won't usually do, if you're still employed with them. If she's still employed with the petitioning company, she's ok for the moment. If not, she's already out of status. If she's in status, she'll have to find some other status after Sept 09, leave or become illegal in Sept 09. So, Yak Rider offers you some food for thought.

If not, after Sept 09, she could be deported up until the time you hopefully become a citizen in 2010 and file the proper paperwork. By the way, the time frame on your naturalization is not something fixed in stone, as the naturalization program has its own backlogs, like everything else at USCIS. Just because you may be eligible for citizenship in 2010 does not mean that you will become a citizen at that time. Perhaps you should consider consulting a good immigration attorney before you accidently complicate your lives more than you would like.