B2 extension and USCIS letter decision came LATE

[B-ann 1]

Hi Good evening,

 

I just want to ask question about my Mother & Sister who came here in the US as a tourist visa last Feb 2020. Before their 6 months stay upon entry will be invalid they file for an extension which is last July 2020. We have been checking everyday after we filed for it and 2 months after they were being mailed a letter for the biometrics appointment. Now after that we have been waiting but it keeps saying online at USCIS website that it is still on process and we never got any mail back after the biometric. This Feb 6, 2021 we got a mail from the USCIS for their extension and it was said on the letter that they got approved for an extension but only until DEC. 10, 2020. 

 

My question is; is my mother & sister considered as an over staying or not. We got confused because on the letter it says only until dec. 10, 2020 but we got the letter and it was being mailed this feb. 6, 2021.

 

 

Thanks

[aaron2020 11,651]

Your mother and sister are visitor visa overstays.  Even though you got ht letter on Feb 6, 2020, they were only allowed to extend until Dec. 10, 2020.  This means their visitor visas are not invalid after Dec. 10, 2020.  Once they return home, they will need to apply for new visitor visas.  They can not use the current visitor visas to come back to the US.  

[B-ann 1]

4 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

Your mother and sister are visitor visa overstays.  Even though you got ht letter on Feb 6, 2020, they were only allowed to extend until Dec. 10, 2020.  This means their visitor visas are not invalid after Dec. 10, 2020.  Once they return home, they will need to apply for new visitor visas.  They can not use the current visitor visas to come back to the US.  

I have consulted a lawyer about this but the lawyer I asked about said he doesn't see any wrong about it and that for him they are not overstay because we have been waiting and yet we never got any mail back after the biometric even on the USCIS online portal. I am just worried and confused which is which.

[aaron2020 11,651]

1 minute ago, B-ann said:

I have consulted a lawyer about this but the lawyer I asked about said he doesn't see any wrong about it and that for him they are not overstay because we have been waiting and yet we never got any mail back after the biometric even on the USCIS online portal. I am just worried and confused which is which.

You've now gotten the mail.  When you consulted the lawyer, you hadn't received the mail.  

It's Feb. 12, 2021.  They are authorized to stay until Dec. 10, 2020.   They've overstayed. 

[B-ann 1]

1 minute ago, aaron2020 said:

You've now gotten the mail.  When you consulted the lawyer, you hadn't received the mail.  

It's Feb. 12, 2021.  They are authorized to stay until Dec. 10, 2020.   They've overstayed. 

I have consulted the lawyer the next day we got the letter and made him read it and he said they are fine. Which I am not convinced much so I came here and wanted to get more answers.

[aaron2020 11,651]

1 minute ago, B-ann said:

I have consulted the lawyer the next day we got the letter and made him read it and he said they are fine. Which I am not convinced much so I came here and wanted to get more answers.

On what basis does the lawyer think your family have not overstayed?  What do you have that authorizes them to be in the US after Dec. 10, 2020?  

They are not fine.   Good luck with the next visit.  

[Boiler 46,857]

They asked for an extension, how long did they ask for?

 

They entered  in February 2020, exactly when, Were they admitted for 6 months.

 

Have they left, if so when.

 

The most you can request is 6 months, not normal to get a response within 6 months.

[Verrou 1,965]

they are overstayed. it happened exactly the same to my friend's sister who came before the pandemic hit.  the sister came from thailand to USA october 2019. she supposed to go back to thailand around april 2020 since she got 6 months on her I-94. and then the pandemic happened. sister filed for B-2 extention in march 2020. did the biometric and then radio silence from USCIS. but they know extention is for 6 months anyway and you cant have  extra stay. so the sister decide to go back to thailand in august 2020, after the sister got back to thailand then finally the letter arrived long time after that. and the extention is only up to september 2020. 

Edited February 13, 2021 by Misscloud

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Maybe what the lawyer meant is that they don’t have a ban (less than 6 months overstay) but there is absolutely no way it is not an overstay. They are currently 2 months and 2 days past the end of their authorized stay.  I suggest they leave as soon as they can so they can make the best case possible (“we thought we were ok waiting for the letter but when it came we realized we had overstayed what it authorized, at that point we left immediately”)  when they apply for their new visa. As mentioned above, the existing visa has been voided because they overstayed.

 

Question, because the dates seem a little odd on the face of it, did they request an extension to 10 December? (And if the answer is yes, why did they not leave by that date, as they must have known that was what they asked for?) 

 

[B-ann 1]

2 hours ago, Boiler said:

They asked for an extension, how long did they ask for?

 

They entered  in February 2020, exactly when, Were they admitted for 6 months.

 

Have they left, if so when.

 

The most you can request is 6 months, not normal to get a response within 6 months.

They arrived here february 6, 2020 and on July of 2020 which their 5th month they filed for an extension and they ask until January of 2021. 

 

They are just about to leave for they have a booking of flight going back to the Philippines since november of 2020 but it was being cancelled. They even have 4x of cancelled tickets because of the law in the philippines that there will be no flight from the countries that being banned. Philippines just opened last february 1st this year.

[Boiler 46,857]

Even if they had been granted the stay they requested they have now gone past it.

[SalishSea 18,413]

3 hours ago, B-ann said:

I have consulted a lawyer about this but the lawyer I asked about said he doesn't see any wrong about it and that for him they are not overstay because we have been waiting and yet we never got any mail back after the biometric even on the USCIS online portal. I am just worried and confused which is which.

That makes no sense.  They are currently out of status, and need to return home.

[SalishSea 18,413]

3 hours ago, B-ann said:

I have consulted the lawyer the next day we got the letter and made him read it and he said they are fine. Which I am not convinced much so I came here and wanted to get more answers.

The lawyer is wrong.  They have overstayed, and their B visas will be revoked.    They used a visitor visa to live in the US for over a year.  Good luck getting another one.

Edited February 13, 2021 by Jorgedig

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Just now, Jorgedig said:

The lawyer is wrong.  They have overstayed, and their B visas will be revoked.  

^ have been 

 

If you overstay the end date of your authorized stay, as provided by the CBP officer at a port-of-entry, or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), your visa will generally be automatically be voided or cancelled https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/visa-expiration-date.html

 

41 minutes ago, B-ann said:

They arrived here february 6, 2020 and on July of 2020 which their 5th month they filed for an extension and they ask until January of 2021. 

 

They are just about to leave for they have a booking of flight going back to the Philippines since november of 2020 but it was being cancelled. They even have 4x of cancelled tickets because of the law in the philippines that there will be no flight from the countries that being banned. Philippines just opened last february 1st this year.

It’s odd that their extension was granted for a shorter period of time than requested considering it was less than 6 months, though even January is past so that’s moot. I would suggest they keep every scrap of evidence of what you suggest about cancelled flights and try convince the embassy to issue new visas.  (I find the lack of flights a little odd, I know people have been talking here about various routes flying to the US from Philippines including direct, surely they are not sending passengers one way and flying the planes back empty? Do they really refuse Filipino nationals entry?)

[Chancy 6,245]

5 hours ago, B-ann said:

They even have 4x of cancelled tickets because of the law in the philippines that there will be no flight from the countries that being banned. Philippines just opened last february 1st this year.

 

That is absolutely not true.  There is no such law.  There have been PH-US flights (non-stop via PAL or with connecting flights) since mid-2020.  There are many reports from VJ members in the Philippine sub-forum about Filipinos successfully returning to the PH from the US during that time.  Here's an example from December --