Mother-in-Law in states on Tourist Visa until May...delayed?

[cleverest 1]

Hi everyone. She is here under a 6mo tourist Visa from the Philippines.

 

How can we best handle the situation; being sure if they're going to want her to fly back on her May 7th return flight we have booked? Will the airlines reschedule if UCSIS allows the delay, or expect us to cancel and pay again later?

 

Anyone dealing with this with a more recent return flight or one upcoming sooner who can speak on this and what happened?

 

Thank you.

[Boiler 43,436]

Has she contacted the Embassy, are they arranging repatriation flights?

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

42 minutes ago, cleverest said:

Will the airlines reschedule if UCSIS allows the delay, or expect us to cancel and pay again later?

You’ll need to check your airline policy, most are being lenient with change/cancellation fees at present. 

(Whether or not uscis will be lenient on an overstay is another matter entirely, especially if she’s been here before all this and saw all the travel warnings etc. No one really knows how they will handle it. Standard procedure is to cancel the visa on day one of overstay.)

[RT&MB 25]

8 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

You’ll need to check your airline policy, most are being lenient with change/cancellation fees at present. 

(Whether or not uscis will be lenient on an overstay is another matter entirely, especially if she’s been here before all this and saw all the travel warnings etc. No one really knows how they will handle it. Standard procedure is to cancel the visa on day one of overstay.)

Agreed - check with your carrier.  I had a flight to Manila on Delta that was scheduled to depart on April 2nd.  They rebooked that flight with no penalty to flights that are  scheduled to depart on April 24th and return on May 10th.  They'll let me cancel or reschedule the later flights with no penalty too.  Although my flights are all still viable, I doubt they'll be in a couple of weeks.   

 

I assume the flight in question is the return portion of a ticket so you probably won't be able to cancel for a refund but they may reschedule with no penalty.  That's a tricky situation too though because the fare will have most certainly changed since you originally booked the ticket. Of course the unknown is what'll things be like in a month.

 

Regardless I suggest you file for an extension with the USCIS so that you're at least protected (with respect to an overstay) to some degree if the flights are cancelled.  If you don't use the extension there is no harm but it'll be more complicated if there is an overstay with no extension request.  

[millefleur 5,035]

Definitely file an extension if you can, it's not worth risking an overstay to just do nothing about it. If it ever comes up again, it will be understandable that it was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

But be aware that you will almost certainly not have a decision on the extension before her i94 is up (if I am understanding correctly that this is May), likely at least 4 months to process, maybe more now.  If it is in process and she leaves before the decision, make sure to withdraw it.

Edited April 5, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[SalishSea 16,772]

13 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

But be aware that you will almost certainly not have a decision on the extension before her i94 is up (if I am understanding correctly that this is May), likely at least 4 months to process, maybe more now.  If it is in process and she leaves before the decision, make sure to withdraw it.

Just curious what is the status of the period of time from a B2 authorized stay expiration to a decision on extension application?

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

26 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Just curious what is the status of the period of time from a B2 authorized stay expiration to a decision on extension application?

It’s basically extension pending, out of status but not accruing unlawful presence. If the application is approved, the approval dates back to the end of the initial authorized stay; if it is denied, the overstay is calculated from that date and the visa cancelled. On receipt of the denial the person has to leave immediately- any overstay from that point on also accrues unlawful presence. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[PerfectStorm 0]

On 4/3/2020 at 10:16 PM, cleverest said:

How can we best handle the situation; being sure if they're going to want her to fly back on her May 7th return flight we have booked? Will the airlines reschedule if UCSIS allows the delay, or expect us to cancel and pay again later?

 

Contact the airlines directly or booking agent regarding flight. We were given voucher to be used for any date available within 1 year.

[PerfectStorm 0]

On 4/4/2020 at 9:37 PM, SusieQQQ said:

if it is denied, the overstay is calculated from that date and the visa cancelled. On receipt of the denial the person has to leave immediately- any overstay from that point on also accrues unlawful presence. 

If i-539 gets denied: upon receipt of notice is it still  possible to apply for family based AOS if otherwise eligible? Or would that be illegal? 

 

[Boiler 43,436]

4 minutes ago, PerfectStorm said:

If i-539 gets denied: upon receipt of notice is it still  possible to apply for family based AOS if otherwise eligible? Or would that be illegal? 

 

Still posssible.

[millefleur 5,035]

**Highjack posts removed and all posts quoting said hijack removed; if you have your own question, please start a new post and keep discussion there, do not piggyback off of other users' threads**

 

VJ Moderation

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

3 hours ago, Boiler said:

Still posssible.

If there’s overstay, only possible if it an immediate relative of USC.

[cleverest 1]

UPDATE: I was able to request a voucher to choose a later flight from the airline - yay, but I still have to contact USCIS and I'm hoping they are understanding, as the PH is currently in quarantine and I've heard they are not allowing flights until at least a week after she was supposed to fly...hopefully they give us a bit more time.

What is the best number to call?

[Chancy 6,233]

3 hours ago, cleverest said:

...the PH is currently in quarantine and I've heard they are not allowing flights until at least a week after she was supposed to fly...

 

Inbound flights are allowed.  If your mother-in-law is a PH citizen, she will be allowed entry.  Check with the airline if there will be flights to the PH on the new date she needs to fly back.  Note that there are no domestic flights, so she needs to take a US flight into the PH airport closest to her home.