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US Visa vs Status Difference ? Visa Expired, I-94 Valid – Legal Stay ?

You need a valid US Visa to enter America. But, many users are not sure if they need that US visa to be valid even after they enter the US, to continue to stay in the US legally. Below are some of the common questions that many users encounter.

  • My H1B Visa expired, but my I-94 is valid. Am I in legal status in the US?
  • My F1 Visa expired, but my I-20 is valid, and I am enrolled. Is my F1 status valid?
  • I am on OPT, my F1 visa is expiring in a month. Can I stay in the US and work?
  • My L1B Visa expired, but my I-94 is still valid. Can I stay in the US Legally?
  • My H1B visa has expired, and I have to travel to India; what should I do?
  • My H1B is expiring, and I should travel for business. What are my options?

This article will focus on clarifying most of the above questions, including the differences between a US visa and ‘Status’ in the context of staying in the US on a Visa. Also, we will address some of the common questions on the US visa expiry.

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Let’s understand the basics of a US Visa before we get into further details.

What is a US Visa?

In general, a visa is an entry document that you need to show when you enter any country.  In terms of a US visa, it is a piece of paper(foil) glued in your passport by the US Consulate Office, with your name and details like the type of US visa, expiry date,  photo, etc. 

This piece of paper/sticker (Visa foil ) stamped/glued in your passport should be produced at the US Port of Entry (POE) as part of the entry process when you enter the United States either by land, sea, or Air. The key thing is to have the US Visa valid for you to enter the United States.

If you leave the country(USA) for some reason and would like to come back or re-enter America, this US Visa has to be valid for the visa type or status you are planning to enter USA.

How do you get US Visa?  F1, H1B, L1 Visas?

To get a US Visa, you will need to apply for the same in your home country or country of residence at any US Consulate General or US Embassy. Also, if you are living in the US, and your visa is expiring, you can visit other countries that allow stamping for third-country nationals like Mexico or Canada and get stamping there as well.

When you for getting a US Visa stamping, you will need to carry all the supporting documents for a visa interview based on the type of visa you are applying it. US Visa stamping documents include documents sent by your employer for H1B or L1 visa, documents sent by the school in America for F1 or J1 visa, your personal documents related to your financial status and eligibility, etc.

The Visa Officer (Consular Officer) at any US consulate general or US Embassy would review your documents and information provided and grant you a US visa based on their discretion. They have the sole authority to give you or deny your visa.

Now that we understand US Visa, let’s look at what is ‘Status’ in context of Visas and Immigration.

What is ‘Status’ or Lawful immigration Status mean in US Immigration ?

When you enter America by showing your valid US Visa in your passport at the US port of entry, the CBP officer at the port of entry stamps your passport and issues I-94( if by sea or air no physical I-94 card)  with an admission Stamp and annotation indicating your immigration “Status” in the US and the validity of the same. So, “status” (in the context of immigration) is nothing but the type of visa you are allowed to stay in the US and until what date you can stay in the US on that particular visa type.  

Below are some examples on how it works.

  • F1 Visa: If your admission stamp says F1, it means that you are entering America on F1 Visa “status”. In the ‘until’ field, if it says D/S – it means Duration of Status. What D/S means is that as long as you maintain your current immigration status in US, you can stay in America.  We will talk more below on how to maintain it.
  • H1B Visa: If your admission stamp says H1B, you will be in the US on H1B Visa status. The until field would indicate until what date you can stay in the US (provided you maintain your status).
  • Also, it means that you cannot stay in the country beyond the valid date of I-94. For you to be in legal status, you need to make sure your I-94 remains valid as a basic requirement. I94-F1 Visa

What is maintaining your ‘Visa Status’ or  ‘Status’ in US mean ?

Maintaining your US visa status means that you are not violating any of the immigration rules that are tied to your visa status.

For instance, if you are on F1 visa status( meaning, living in the US on F1 Visa), you should be enrolled full-time at a school and have a 3.0 GPA. Also, on F1 visa, you can only work for upto 20 hours on campus during regular semesters and not be engaged in off-campus employment. 

Similar to the F1 visa, each visa has a set of immigration regulations and you have to following them. If you violate any of the immigration rules tied to a visa status, you are considered to be out of status.

If you are out of status, your immigration status is illegal, and you can be deported and barred from entering the US in future. This applies, even if you exceed your grace period and stay unlawfully. Essentially, if you do NOT maintain status, you are staying illegally in America.

Also, if your I-94 expires at any point of time, you are technically considered not to be in legal status. So, it is important for you to keep I-94 valid all the time. Read How to check I-94 online and validity.

If you received a shorter I-94 duration due to passport expiration, then you need to renew I-94 after you get a new passport. Check Six Options to Renew I-94 in US, Experiences by users

Now that we know these terms, let’s look a the differences.

What is the difference between US Visa vs. Status?

  • A US Visa is an entry document issued by the US consulate or Embassy abroad to you and you need it to be valid to enter America. You need to it to be valid either for your first entry or if you are planning to return to America after any travel outside the US.
  • Status, in the context of US Immigration, is something you get when you enter America using a valid US Visa. Your status is indicated on your admission stamp done at the Port of Entry and is reflected on the I-94 issued to you. It could be anything like  F1, H1B, L1, B1/B2, etc. based on your primary purpose for entry and it will indicate the validity of the status. Your status is only valid if you maintain it properly by following all the immigration rules as required by that visa category.

So, in short, US Visa is for your entry to America and you get your visa ‘status’ after you entry to America of the same US visa type.

Now that we know the relationship, lets get to the most commonly asked questions around the US Visa validity and Status.

Common FAQs

F1 Visa expired, but my I-20 is valid. I am enrolled full-time. Is my F1 status valid?

Yes, your status is valid, provided you are maintaining your immigration status.  Your F1 Visa stamp in your passport is only good to enter America. Its significance ends there, you do not have to worry about the expiry of the F1 visa. It only plays role, if you would like to re-enter America after traveling to your home country for vacation or holidays.

My L1B, H1B, H4, F1 Visa expired, but I-94 still valid, can I stay in the US Legally ?

Yes, as long as you are maintaining your status and your I-94 ( Electronic or Physical Card) is valid, your status in US is legal. You need to ensure that your immigration documents (like I-20 for F1 students, I-797 approval notice for H1B holders ) that are tied to your status are valid too.

I am on OPT and working now, my F1 visa is expiring, can I continue working after expiry ?

As long as you have maintained your status and not violated anything, your visa stamping expiration does not matter. You can continue to work until your OPT period is done. If you leave the country and try to re-enter, then you will need to have valid visa and you would need to go for stamping at that time. Always keep in contact with your DSO and make sure your have valid I-20 and your status is maintained properly.

H1B, L1, F1 Visa stamp in passport expired – I have to travel to home country like India. Can I re-enter ? What should I do ?

If your visa stamp in passport has expired, it means that you cannot use it to re-enter America after you travel to home country.  Your visa stamp has to be valid, to enter US. You should apply for getting F1, H1B or L1 Visa stamping done in your home country at a US consulate office. Some people travel to other countries to get this visa stamping done, depending on their situation and preference.  Also, on the contrary, if your passport has expired, but your visa is valid, you can still use the same valid visa to re-enter US. Read Enter US with Valid Visa in Expired Passport 

Does that clarify Visa Vs Status in USA ? Did I miss anything ? Any thoughts to add ?

Image Courtesy : http://www.iso.rochester.edu/travel/arrive/i94.html

   

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102 Comments

  1. Hi

    I had a query with respect to my dependents. I am currently on L1B Visa valid from 2019 to 2024. My dependents have the same visa validity but are on L2.

    Our I-94 expired in May 2022. I managed to get an extension (L1B) till 2024 (Visa expiry date). But my wife’s and daughter’s extension (I-539) is pending with USCIS (Receipt date : April).

    Is it possible for the entire family to exit the US (travel to Mexico) and re-enter based on the visa and L1B extension. Will my spouse and daughter be allowed to enter based on my extension. She is interested to get a new I-94 (L2S) and start working.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Reply
  2. Hello,
    I have Green Card (I-551 form) based on a GC2021 Lottery. Im trying to apply for the SSN at the office is asking m for my status. A 2 position combination of a letter and number or a number and a letter. Im not able to identify it in my passport stamp, its unreadable.
    Could you help to figure out what is my Status code?
    Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Hi Kumar,
    I have valid L1B visa stamped on my passport expiring in Nov-2022 and I have not entered in the US yet. I am planning to come to the US in Jan-2022. I just want to know that what can be the probable expiry date I can expect on my I-94 once I enter the US. Will it be 3 years from the date I entered the US (e.g. Jan-2025) or will it be the end date of my Visa expiry (Nov-2022). I am confused as I am not getting satisfactory answers anywhere online. So, please help to solve my doubt!

    Reply
  4. Hi,
    My parents came on Visitor Visa in April which is expiring in 1st week of September. But the I94 validity is given till end of October(6 months). Is it legal if they stay in US till I94 validity date or should they be leaving before Visa expiration date? Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  5. Hello,

    I am on a H4 dependent status and have received a job offer on a cap exempt H1B. However, my H4 which went for extension last year has still not been approved due to the COVID related delay in processing. Since my H4 visa is on extension will it affect my H1B processing in any way?

    Thank you

    Reply
  6. My friends E2 visa expired April 5, 2021. His I-94 is valid until February 2022. Can he stay in the country legally after June 5, 2021 using just his I-94.

    Reply
    • Karen,
      If the I-94 is valid and work visa approval documentation in US is valid, then fine. Check with your attorney as well, to be sure.

      Reply
  7. My question:
    Husbands’s L1A is valid until 2022 Dec- but the visa is expired currently.
    I live and work here while my daughter is in India (got stuck there due to COVID reasons) for some time. Now both mine and my daughters visa are expired as well.
    When i go to India to bring her here- can i get stamped based on the L1A validity document?
    Should my husband’s visa be valid for us to also get visa and re-enter USA?

    Kindly help. Thanks in advance

    Reply
  8. Hello ,

    My sister’s visa is expiring on December 31st 2020 and her I94 is expiring on Jan 10th 2021 .
    Her extension is pending from USCIS .
    Since she works for a consulting company ( Kforce) , she will not be paid from Jan 1st because she does not have a project / client from Jan1st .

    Does she have to exit the country before Jan 10th ( i94 expiry )?

    Her employer will inform USCIS on Jan 1st that she will be unpaid from Jan 1st .
    Since there is no valid visa , extension is pending and no salary from Jan 1st

    It’s not clear whether she has to leave the country or can she stay back because the extension is still pending .

    Please advice !

    Reply
    • Luther,
      If she is not paid, then it means that she not not maintaining status. So, she cannot be living on work visa without working and being paid.
      She either needs to be paid & working or leave the country to avoid issues with violation of status.

      Reply
  9. H1 and H4 visa stamp expired.
    However, i797 for H1 and i94 for H1 and H4 is still valid.
    H4 doesn’t have i797.
    Is there any issue with H4’s status?

    Reply
    • Gaurav,
      You need to have valid I-94 irrespective of the status, including H4. When you applied for h4 extension, you should have got I-94 along with it.

      Reply
  10. Hi,
    So, if my wife obtains F2 status through COS (as a dependent of my F1) , she would still have to reapply for a F2 visa if she wants to re-enter the US after visiting our home country?
    That seems a little unreasonable.
    Thanks in advance for any feedback.

    Reply
  11. To the question “My L1B, H1B, H4, F1 Visa expired, but I-94 still valid, Can I stay in US Legally ?”
    your answer:
    “Yes, as long as you are maintaining your status and your I-94 ( Electronic or Physical Card) is valid, your status in US is legal.”

    this is totally an unclear answer, what do you mean by “as long as you are maintaining your status” ? since the question itself is about the H4 expired situation.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  12. My passport has a valid F1 visa stamp which is valid for 5 years until May 2021. I have an H1B approval notice which is valid till Sep 2022. I don’t have a stamp for my H1B as I have not travelled outside USA. Until when I have to travel outside USA to get my passport stamped with H1B?

    Reply
    • Chakshu,
      As long as you are in US and maintaining status, you do not need US Visa. You need it, when you plan to exit and re-enter US. It is an entry document. You can stay as long as you want in US, if you are maintaining proper status.

      Reply
  13. Hi, My L1A maxout is in March 2020 but my visa is until 2022 and i94 until 2021 do I need to serve maxout period and return with new L1visa or can use the same visa and return after an year and also can I file H1b visa simoultaneously

    Reply
    • Ram,
      You need to serve the maxout period, just having visa is not sufficient. You need to have valid approval notice. I am not sure, please check with your attorney on using the same visa. You may try to file it..but need to factor in the total time and how long you are out of the country for start date of the H1B.

      Reply
  14. Hello,

    My H1-B was approved in 2016. I 797 expiration date is 8/31/2019. My I 94 Exp date is 9/1/2019. My extension was rejected on 9/1/2019. On the same day, I went to the Mexico border and extended my I94 to May 2020. Therefore, I do not have valid I 797 currently, may I stay and work legally until May 2020?
    Thank you.

    Charlie

    Reply

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