Two expiration dates on Visa??

[Bryan and An 23]

Good day everyone, 

 

My fiancee was approved near the end of December 2016. As expected, her visa has an expiration date 6 months after her medical; near the end of June 2017. However, below that, in a section labeled "Annotation," it also lists the "Expiration Date of Petition," which is in March, 4 months after our NOA 2 date. She will be coming to the US well before the visa expiration date, but after the petition expiration date. My fiancee is really worried about this. I told her that the only thing that matters is the visa expiration date, and I've searched visa journey and found a few people that have said the same thing, but she wonders why they would put the petition expiration date on there. I will admit that I'm confused by that too; once the visa is issued, why would the original petition expiration date matter? 

 

I did find one person through a Google search who said they were denied entry due to the petition being "expired" even though the visa wasn't, but it was a long time ago. Does anyone have any personal insights or experiences that might shed some light on this? POE will be Chicago, if anyone has anything to add about that specific location. 

 

And although any words of wisdom here will certainly be appreciated, I have a feeling that my fiancee's fears might not be assuaged unless I get an "official" answer from someone within the State dept. Who would I contact for that? I figured maybe the consulate in HCMC where she had the interview, but the only phone number on their website says it's "for US citizen emergencies only." I don't see any other email address or contact form, either. Who should I call? NVC? Immigration at the actual POE? 

 

Thanks for any help. 

 

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

It is interesting how the visa varies country by country. I have heard same thing about two dates on it, as well as sometimes it stating "Fiance of: (insert petitioner name)".

 

My partner has nothing under the annotation on the visa, and experienced now problems at all upon entry (minus the wait time in Dallas).

 

I would say her worry is to be understood; but as you said, the story you read about denied entry was awhile back, I think the immigrations now is much more informed about these things.

 

Unless someone else has some specific referencing materials to share, I definately would just try to continue to calm her and make sure she knows everything will be fine at her POE.

[B and H 18]

I don't have an answer for you, but you mentioned not seeing a contact form. After the last website update, the contact forms are here:

NIV https://vn.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/non-immigrant-visa-inquiry-form/

IV https://vn.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/immigrant-visa-inquiry-form/

 

I used the IV form before my wife's interview and got a response back in a few days.

 

My wife's visa also has a separate IV Expiration (different visa, CR-1), but she entered before that date as well.

 

As an aside, did they happen to issue your fiancee's visa with the correct name order? I'm trying to gather documentation on how many times they screw this up in HCMC because of the hassle it causes. If they screwed it up, I highly recommend trying to get it fixed before she leaves for the US. For my wife, fixing it in Vietnam would have meant another 24 hours on a bus, finding another temporary place to stay, etc. So we left it alone. Now we are feeling the pain. Her social security card came with the wrong name order and so did her green card. We're still waiting for USCIS to process her I-90 to fix it. In HCMC, they work with Vietnamese names for a living and this still happens all the time according to our local social security and USCIS offices.

[Bryan and An 23]

Thanks for your responses. I will contact them via that contact form. 

2 hours ago, B and H said:

As an aside, did they happen to issue your fiancee's visa with the correct name order? I'm trying to gather documentation on how many times they screw this up in HCMC because of the hassle it causes. If they screwed it up, I highly recommend trying to get it fixed before she leaves for the US. For my wife, fixing it in Vietnam would have meant another 24 hours on a bus, finding another temporary place to stay, etc. So we left it alone. Now we are feeling the pain. Her social security card came with the wrong name order and so did her green card. We're still waiting for USCIS to process her I-90 to fix it. In HCMC, they work with Vietnamese names for a living and this still happens all the time according to our local social security and USCIS offices.

What is considered the correct name order? Her last name is correct, and for given name, it is Middle Middle First, in the typical Vietnamese way. I'm assuming this is okay as it's the order on her passport? We had a heck of a time with Vietnam Airlines once because I had bought her ticket as "First Middle Middle," which didn't match the passport. Is this the order they will put it on her US documents though, thus being incorrect in the US?

Edited January 22, 2017 by Bryan and An

[B and H 18]

20 hours ago, Bryan and An said:

Thanks for your responses. I will contact them via that contact form. 

What is considered the correct name order? Her last name is correct, and for given name, it is Middle Middle First, in the typical Vietnamese way. I'm assuming this is okay as it's the order on her passport? We had a heck of a time with Vietnam Airlines once because I had bought her ticket as "First Middle Middle," which didn't match the passport. Is this the order they will put it on her US documents though, thus being incorrect in the US?

After I typed out my rant, I started thinking about that and wondered if she would have had trouble at POE if they had issued the visa with the correct name order. Because you're right, then it wouldn't match how it appears on the passport. I would still suggest having them "fix" the visa for US name order, though, because apparently how they issue the visa is how it ends up in the Homeland Security system. And then how Homeland Security sees the name is how they will issue social security and green cards. And that affects driver's license / state ID, etc. It's a pain. Local social security and USCIS offices can't fix this problem. If the visa is "wrong" I think you will have the same problems I'm having now, with an I-90 in your future. My wife's was also issued as Middle First for given name. Good luck.

[B and H 18]

As for airline tickets, sometimes it's just not possible to get the name right when buying online because of how the form is presented and processed. A call to the airline after booking online has worked for me.

[Bryan and An 23]

Sounds like you can't win either way on the name order...either it's in US order and you likely have trouble at the POE because it doesn't match the passport, or it matches the passport and ends up being backwards on the US documents. Anyone else have any experiences one way or the other?

 

As for the original question, here was the response I received from the consulate:

 

"You can apply for a single admission at a U.S. port of entry before your visa expires.  The petition’s expiration date will not affect the visa validity." So I guess that settles that at least. 

[Ash.1101 1,755]

The petition date is for the expiration date of the NOA2. Sometimes if the approval of the card is after that NOA2 date, they will extend it and post the new date. My husbands fiance visa had his petition date extended because his NOA2 expiration date was Oct 2nd, his interview was sept 22nd, but we had to supply documents so his visa wasn't approved until Nov 9th. So his visa showed a petition expiration date of like March 22nd and then the visa expiration date of like March 4th.

There shouldn't be any issue with having two expiration dates on the visa. There's only been ONE case so far that I've seen here on VJ where the CBP officer didn't understand the difference between petition exp date and visa exp date and turned a girl back in Toronto Pre-Customs Security check saying that the petition date showed it was expired therefore it was expired, but that's the only case I've seen so far. She had to get her sealed packet resealed by the consulate, and didn't have any trouble coming in the second time.

[jac_chappin 24]

On 1/22/2017 at 0:20 PM, Bryan and An said:

Good day everyone, 

 

My fiancee was approved near the end of December 2016. As expected, her visa has an expiration date 6 months after her medical; near the end of June 2017. However, below that, in a section labeled "Annotation," it also lists the "Expiration Date of Petition," which is in March, 4 months after our NOA 2 date. She will be coming to the US well before the visa expiration date, but after the petition expiration date. My fiancee is really worried about this. I told her that the only thing that matters is the visa expiration date, and I've searched visa journey and found a few people that have said the same thing, but she wonders why they would put the petition expiration date on there. I will admit that I'm confused by that too; once the visa is issued, why would the original petition expiration date matter? 

 

I did find one person through a Google search who said they were denied entry due to the petition being "expired" even though the visa wasn't, but it was a long time ago. Does anyone have any personal insights or experiences that might shed some light on this? POE will be Chicago, if anyone has anything to add about that specific location. 

 

And although any words of wisdom here will certainly be appreciated, I have a feeling that my fiancee's fears might not be assuaged unless I get an "official" answer from someone within the State dept. Who would I contact for that? I figured maybe the consulate in HCMC where she had the interview, but the only phone number on their website says it's "for US citizen emergencies only." I don't see any other email address or contact form, either. Who should I call? NVC? Immigration at the actual POE? 

 

Thanks for any help. 

 

My wife's k-1 visa had an expiration date 12/28 but the petition expired on 8/25. She came to the US on 9/2 and din't have any issues. 

I think it's a non issue to be honest. The visa process is very stressful but try to put your fiancee at ease. :-)

 

 

 

[jac_chappin 24]

5 hours ago, Bryan and An said:

Sounds like you can't win either way on the name order...either it's in US order and you likely have trouble at the POE because it doesn't match the passport, or it matches the passport and ends up being backwards on the US documents. Anyone else have any experiences one way or the other?

 

As for the original question, here was the response I received from the consulate:

 

"You can apply for a single admission at a U.S. port of entry before your visa expires.  The petition’s expiration date will not affect the visa validity." So I guess that settles that at least. 

 

6 minutes ago, jac_chappin said:

My wife's k-1 visa had an expiration date 12/28 but the petition expired on 8/25. She came to the US on 9/2 and din't have any issues. 

I think it's a non issue to be honest. The visa process is very stressful but try to put your fiancee at ease. :-)

 

 

 

Bryan - We had an issue with the name also but got through it. The key is after you get married, take the marriage certificate to SS office and update the name on the SSN. Then go to your DMV to get an ID with the new name. As far as passport, have the Vietnam consulate where you live add an annotation with her new married name. When you book flights use her new married name and you won't have issues. You just have to direct folks checking passport at airport to the page with the new married name. This approach saved us countless hassle. Of course, this is once she got here. I hope this helps

 

[Bryan and An 23]

On 1/23/2017 at 11:07 PM, jac_chappin said:

 

Bryan - We had an issue with the name also but got through it. The key is after you get married, take the marriage certificate to SS office and update the name on the SSN. Then go to your DMV to get an ID with the new name. As far as passport, have the Vietnam consulate where you live add an annotation with her new married name. When you book flights use her new married name and you won't have issues. You just have to direct folks checking passport at airport to the page with the new married name. This approach saved us countless hassle. Of course, this is once she got here. I hope this helps

 

 

Okay - so are you saying that we can apply for the marriage certificate with the "American" order of names, even though that would be different than what her passport and identification currently show? Or take the marriage certificate with the incorrect order to the SSN office and they'll still change it for the SS card? Thanks. 

[jac_chappin 24]

On 1/26/2017 at 5:31 PM, Bryan and An said:

 

Okay - so are you saying that we can apply for the marriage certificate with the "American" order of names, even though that would be different than what her passport and identification currently show? Or take the marriage certificate with the incorrect order to the SSN office and they'll still change it for the SS card? Thanks. 

When your get married, your wife can legally change her name. I live in San Francisco and the marriage license application has a section for desired new name. The marriage license application will be filled out matching name on passport but you can specify new name as described above. Go to SSN office and apply for SSN number using the marriage certificate (your wife has a new name now) and passport as passport is her only document showing her identity. Wait a few days until all systems are updated then go to DMV and apply for her ID card. Depending where you live, some DMV offices, won't issue the id unless you provide a 2 year green card. Fortunately we didn't have this issue. My wife only had 1 1/2 months left on her entry stamp but got an ID for a year. Take marriage certificate to VN consulate and have a annotation of your wife's new name on passport. Lot's of running around but well worth it. I hope this helps!

Edited January 29, 2017 by jac_chappin
missed word

[Bryan and An 23]

That is extremely helpful. Thank you!