QUESTION
Want to know when my illegal presence started in US after my L1 Extension was denied
Asked on Jan 24th, 2013 on Immigration - Massachusetts
More details to this question:
My I-94/VISA expiry date was 5/26/2012. My company filed L1 VISA Extension on 4/30/2012 i.e. before VISA/I-94 Expiry. RFE was issued by USCIS on 8/23/2012 for which my company replied with additional documents on 11/16/2012. Then my case status was updated on 12/10/2012 saying that decision has been made but it was not clear whether it is denial/approval. Finally on 1/24/2013, USCIS updated the information on the website mentioning that it is a denial and denial notice has been sent. Reading various blogs/websites, it seems like in denial case illegal presence starts from date of I-94 expiry. But from USCIS link - http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/C1en.pdf (check page 2) seems likes illegal presence is counted only after the decision has been made. I want to confirm when does my illegal presence start in US? Thanks for your help!
1 ANSWER
Your accrual of unlawful presence begins on the date of the extension denial. All the time that the extension application was pending you were considered to be in lawful status. You need to make sure to depart the US prior to 180 days to prevent the 3-year unlawful presence bar.
Answered on Jan 25th, 2013 at 3:28 PM