Form I-797 with I-94 lost/not received

[Saikrishnan 0]

Hello all,

My employer had filed for my H1B visa in the month of July(2011) and it was approved in July itself. USCIS at Vermont mailed the documents to the attorney that filed the petition,who in turn forwarded them to my employer. My employer had copies of the original and chose to mail the originals to me and since I had recently moved the docs got sent back to USCIS. It has been close to two months since I informed them of the change of address and yet, I have not got back documents. I am very disturbed because I see that filing for a duplicate might take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year and that too, I wouldn't get the attached I-94 that comes with the I-797. I have photocopies of both I-797 and i-94. Is that enough? I will have to travel in 5 months time for my marriage and get my visa stamped b4 I return and I am already fearing the worst. If not, is there a way for me to come out of this tangle?

[Harsh_77 716]

No copies are not good enough for stamping, you need the original for stamping.

Orignial has I-94 attached which you should hand over when you leave.

You cannot do that from copies.

I dont know where you saw it but getting copies should not take 6 months.

[Saikrishnan 0]

No copies are not good enough for stamping, you need the original for stamping.

Orignial has I-94 attached which you should hand over when you leave.

You cannot do that from copies.

I dont know where you saw it but getting copies should not take 6 months.

Thanks for the reply Harsh, but I see on the forums that even if I apply for duplicate copies from the USCIS they would send the approval notice but not the I-94 attached with it. Is that correct?

[Harsh_77 716]

Thanks for the reply Harsh, but I see on the forums that even if I apply for duplicate copies from the USCIS they would send the approval notice but not the I-94 attached with it. Is that correct?

I -94 was is attached on the right hand corner of the status change letter.

They don't send you I-94 form that looks like one you filled on airplane.

[temporary 0]

Hello all,

My employer had filed for my H1B visa in the month of July(2011) and it was approved in July itself. USCIS at Vermont mailed the documents to the attorney that filed the petition,who in turn forwarded them to my employer. My employer had copies of the original and chose to mail the originals to me and since I had recently moved the docs got sent back to USCIS. It has been close to two months since I informed them of the change of address and yet, I have not got back documents. I am very disturbed because I see that filing for a duplicate might take anywhere from 6 months to 1 year and that too, I wouldn't get the attached I-94 that comes with the I-797. I have photocopies of both I-797 and i-94. Is that enough? I will have to travel in 5 months time for my marriage and get my visa stamped b4 I return and I am already fearing the worst. If not, is there a way for me to come out of this tangle?

Duplicates are as valid as the original

I did not get the original I-797 for my son, I requested duplicates, they arrived within 2 weeks, and used the I-94 attached to duplicate to exit the country.