Indian passport renewal and I-94 extension for H1B visa holder in COVID-19 special situation

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Your passport just has to be valid at the time you file for Extension of Status (your company filing I-129 for your H1b extension of status as well as you filing I-539 for your son's H4 extension of status). There is no requirement on how much validity your passport needs to have remaining at the time you apply for Extension of Status, so you should be able to file for an extension with your current passport before it expires (since you have to apply before your status expires in June anyway).

See USCIS Adjudicator's Field Manual chapter 30.2(c)(3)(B) for passport validity for I-539:

An applicant need not submit a valid passport with his or her application since Part 4 of the application contains passport validity information. The applicant must hold a valid passport at the time of application and is required to maintain validity during the entire period of his or her stay in the United States. [See 8 CFR 214.1.] This does not preclude the adjudicating officer from requiring submission of evidence of the validity of the passport, if the officer has reason to believe that the alien has falsely claimed that it is valid.

And AFM chapter 30.2(d)(3)(D) for passport validity for I-129:

An alien need not submit a valid passport with his or her application, since Part 4 of the application contains a check-block requiring the applicant to indicate he or she has a valid travel document. The alien must hold a valid passport at the time of filing and must agree to maintain its validity during the entire period of his or her stay.

The actual regulation (in 8 CFR 214.1(a)(3)(i)) says:

[...] The passport of an alien applying for extension of stay must be valid at the time of application for extension, unless otherwise provided in this chapter, and the alien must agree to maintain the validity of his or her passport and to abide by all the terms and conditions of his extension.

These places (as well as the I-539 and I-129 instructions) do say that you must "agree" to maintain a valid passport during the entire period of your stay, so you should still try to renew your passport before it expires or as soon as possible, but at least you wouldn't need to wait for it to be done before you apply for Extension of Status.

Upvote:1

I tried reaching out to their 24x7 emergency number on https://www.cgisf.gov.in/page/emergency-services-menu/ and they called me back. They told to wait until 3rd May which is lockdown end date at the moment for SFO California. If offices do not open by then, I need to call them and they will help to get passport renewed.

Also I called USCIS and CBP helpline and they told my employer can file I-129 but it will take pretty long. Though their guideline says I should have a valid passport while applying I-94 extension, they still check for the duration of the passport to give extension of stay (unfortunately). So applying for extension now will not help me at all looks like. USCIS Los Angeles Field Office is open and once I get my renewed passport, I can walk in to their office and they can renew my I-94 immediately.

So Finally I know what to do. Thank you everyone for suggestion. I got way to dig information.

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