Chose option as 'B1' in the I-539 application for extending the B2 visa

[DBM 0]

The visa issued to my Father in Law is 'B1-B2'. But the Online I-94 issued shows the Class of Admission : B2.

When the I-539 extension was applied online the first question was :-
'What is your current nonimmigrant status?'
The dropdown for the answers contained options like B1, B2 but there was no option to select 'B1-B2'.
So we selected the option 'B1' and submitted the application and paid the fees of $455 online.
We want to know that is it alright to select the 'B1' option from the dropdown.
Or will there be any issue in our application? If there will be an issue, how can we fix this? His current I-94 expires on 28th Feb 2021
Please advise...

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[doggieandsam 765]

B1 is for business, B2 for tourism. it's a combined category in the DS-160 that's why it's so confusing. question is: what is the purpose of your father's stay? if tourism/holiday/vacation/seeing family, then you should have selected B2 in the extension form. I don't know if there will be an issue with your application.  

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

I can’t imagine there would be a huge problem choosing B1 instead of b2, it probably happens quite often and it is essentially the same type of visa, if there is any hassle it is more likely to be with the rationale for extending. ( I presume you are not using Covid as an excuse as the parent would have arrived in the middle of the pandemic with a Feb expiry and even with COVID we have seen some reports  here of RFEs for insufficient evidence )

[DBM 0]

1 hour ago, doggieandsam said:

B1 is for business, B2 for tourism. it's a combined category in the DS-160 that's why it's so confusing. question is: what is the purpose of your father's stay? if tourism/holiday/vacation/seeing family, then you should have selected B2 in the extension form. I don't know if there will be an issue with your application.  

The purpose of his visit and now the purpose of his extension are both for meeting me and my family. Its NOT for Business. We asked USCIS Customer service and they asked to send online message from his USCIS account to request for correction. But we are not sure what USCIS will reply and when they will reply. His current I94 expires on 28th Feb 2021 😞

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 minutes ago, DBM said:

The purpose of his visit and now the purpose of his extension are both for meeting me and my family. Its NOT for Business. We asked USCIS Customer service and they asked to send online message from his USCIS account to request for correction. But we are not sure what USCIS will reply and when they will reply. His current I94 expires on 28th Feb 2021 😞

Well, it’s been taking 5-6 months to adjudicate i539s recently. You definitely won’t get a decision before next week.

[DBM 0]

57 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

I can’t imagine there would be a huge problem choosing B1 instead of b2, it probably happens quite often and it is essentially the same type of visa, if there is any hassle it is more likely to be with the rationale for extending. ( I presume you are not using Covid as an excuse as the parent would have arrived in the middle of the pandemic with a Feb expiry and even with COVID we have seen some reports  here of RFEs for insufficient evidence )

Thank you for your reply. The reason that we gave for requesting extension is that the Covid situation has worsened in India in last few days especially in his Home state of Maharashtra. And he is a Diabetic, so we requested for a 4 month extension so that the situation may improve in his state in those 4 months. Right now more worried about what USCIS will do in response for selecting B1 instead of B2 in the extension application form 😞

[DBM 0]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

I can’t imagine there would be a huge problem choosing B1 instead of b2, it probably happens quite often and it is essentially the same type of visa, if there is any hassle it is more likely to be with the rationale for extending. ( I presume you are not using Covid as an excuse as the parent would have arrived in the middle of the pandemic with a Feb expiry and even with COVID we have seen some reports  here of RFEs for insufficient evidence )

 

2 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Well, it’s been taking 5-6 months to adjudicate i539s recently. You definitely won’t get a decision before next week.

I am not so much worried about the time taken by USCIS to make a decision. More worried about what if they reject his I-539 form saying that we chose the wrong Visa class (B1 instead of B2) in the application form. We have sent Online message to USCIS requesting them to correct this error in our form. But dont know what USCIS will do 😞

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Well, tbh I’d still be more worried about using Covid as an excuse when he was able to travel here in the middle of the pandemic but really you only have two options, either he goes back before his i94 expires or you wait to see what happens after that. 

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 minute ago, DBM said:

 

I am not so much worried about the time taken by USCIS to make a decision. More worried about what if they reject his I-539 form saying that we chose the wrong Visa class (B1 instead of B2) in the application form. We have sent Online message to USCIS requesting them to correct this error in our form. But dont know what USCIS will do 😞

Well... perhaps you should be because if he is denied then he will have been in overstay on his visa from the end of his i94 all the way till you get the decision, and will lose his existing tourist visa. Again, I personally think you’re worrying about the wrong thing, but if you’ve done what you were told to change the class on that front you should be ok. 

[DBM 0]

4 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Well, tbh I’d still be more worried about using Covid as an excuse when he was able to travel here in the middle of the pandemic but really you only have two options, either he goes back before his i94 expires or you wait to see what happens after that. 

 

 

You are correct. His plan is to leave on 30th Jun 2021 and the USCIS decision may not come by that time. So most probably he will leave before the decision is made. In that case if he gets a denial long after he has left for India, what happens to his B2 visa status?

[DBM 0]

5 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Well... perhaps you should be because if he is denied then he will have been in overstay on his visa from the end of his i94 all the way till you get the decision, and will lose his existing tourist visa. Again, I personally think you’re worrying about the wrong thing, but if you’ve done what you were told to change the class on that front you should be ok. 

Please correct me if I am wrong. But the duration from I-94 expiry till you get a denial decision should be considered a period of Authorized stay right? If the person leaves within 3-4 days of getting denial Or if he leaves before getting the denial decision in that case, what happens to his B2 visa?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

3 minutes ago, DBM said:

Please correct me if I am wrong. But the duration from I-94 expiry till you get a denial decision should be considered a period of Authorized stay right? If the person leaves within 3-4 days of getting denial Or if he leaves before getting the denial decision in that case, what happens to his B2 visa?

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/C1en.pdf.

page 3
 

What if I file for an extension of stay on time but USCIS doesn’t make a decision before my I–94 expires?

Your lawful nonimmigrant status ends, and you are out of status, when your Form I-94 expires, even if you have timely applied to extend your nonimmigrant status. Generally, as a matter of discretion, USCIS will defer any removal proceedings until after the petition is adjudicated and USCIS decides your request for extension of nonimmigrant status. Nevertheless, DHS may bring a removal proceeding against you, even if you have an application for extension of status pending.
Even though you are not actually in a lawful nonimmigrant status, you do not accrue “unlawful presence” for purposes of inadmissibility under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, while your extension of status application is pending if it was filed prior to the expiration of your Form I-94....

If your application for an extension of stay is approved, the approval will relate back to the date your Form I-94 expired, and your status while your application is pending will then be considered to have been lawful.
If your application is denied, you [may be required to cease employment ...not relevant to your father] and depart the United States immediately.
In addition, any nonimmigrant visa in your passport granted in connection with your classification becomes void. Once your visa is void, you must submit any new visa application at a U.S. consulate in your home country (not a third country, except in rare instances as determined by the U.S. Department of State).
 

 

[doggieandsam 765]

31 minutes ago, DBM said:

The purpose of his visit and now the purpose of his extension are both for meeting me and my family. Its NOT for Business. We asked USCIS Customer service and they asked to send online message from his USCIS account to request for correction. But we are not sure what USCIS will reply and when they will reply. His current I94 expires on 28th Feb 2021 😞

ahh, that makes sense then that CBP put B2 in the I-94. Good luck with everything, hope it works out for you.

[DBM 0]

8 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/C1en.pdf.

page 3
 

What if I file for an extension of stay on time but USCIS doesn’t make a decision before my I–94 expires?

Your lawful nonimmigrant status ends, and you are out of status, when your Form I-94 expires, even if you have timely applied to extend your nonimmigrant status. Generally, as a matter of discretion, USCIS will defer any removal proceedings until after the petition is adjudicated and USCIS decides your request for extension of nonimmigrant status. Nevertheless, DHS may bring a removal proceeding against you, even if you have an application for extension of status pending.
Even though you are not actually in a lawful nonimmigrant status, you do not accrue “unlawful presence” for purposes of inadmissibility under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, while your extension of status application is pending if it was filed prior to the expiration of your Form I-94....

If your application for an extension of stay is approved, the approval will relate back to the date your Form I-94 expired, and your status while your application is pending will then be considered to have been lawful.
If your application is denied, you [may be required to cease employment ...not relevant to your father] and depart the United States immediately.
In addition, any nonimmigrant visa in your passport granted in connection with your classification becomes void. Once your visa is void, you must submit any new visa application at a U.S. consulate in your home country (not a third country, except in rare instances as determined by the U.S. Department of State).
 

 

Ok  😞  This is scary. But if he leaves USA before he gets the decision, then what happens in that case?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

If he leaves before a decision is made, technically the extension application is abandoned and there should be no decision, however, we have seen a couple of people report here that their applications were denied after they left and they still got informed by their home embassies that their visas were no longer valid. You can probably try fight that if that is the outcome.

 

I have been trying to find some past threads that you might find useful. I am not having great luck with the search function as I remember others but cannot find them. Nevertheless here are a couple.

 

Covid extension for parents denied (poster did not update with reasons for denial)

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/751451-b2-visa-extension-via-i539-form/?tab=comments#comment-10314800

 

RFE for Covid Extension for parent 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/745628-rfe-for-b2-extension-moms-visit-extension-due-to-covid/?tab=comments#comment-10226067

there was one from someone whose fiancé’s visa got voided after he left (and I am almost certain he actually ended up getting his extension approved after he left) but they were going for k1 anyway so didn’t follow up appealing they visa being voided.  I remember another similar who got voided after they left before a decision was made. I can’t find either of these in the search though... (it’s possible the second one I’m thinking of was on another forum but I am sure the fiancé one was here)