Extending B1/B2 visa

[DrQamar 0]

Hey everyone,

I've been tormented with this issue of i94. I have a multiple entry visa till 2015, but my i94 will expire in April 15th. I am a doctor, here to give the USMLE exams, and this time frame is not enough. I need additional 6 months to clear all the exams and be ready. I checked up on the USCIS website, and it says I can apply online for extension of i94.

Has anyone applied this extension before? Do they usually give extension for 6 months, if i ask for it? Assuming I send all the proper documents, and explain them my situation with the exam, what are my chances of getting an extension? Also, lets say i applied, but i didn't get a reply till after April 15th, will that make me illegal?

I don't want to go out of the country and come back in. That will break the flow of my studies and exams. Also, I don't know if i can go out of the country for a week and come back in. Has anyone tried going to mexico at the time of expiry, staying for 2-3 days and then coming back in and his i-94 renewed for 6 months? I don't know which is a good approach : going out or applying for extension, since the CBP officer may very well ask me why I didn't apply for extension if I am only returning after 3-4 days.

Any help/experience will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Noah Lot 391]

Hey everyone,

I've been tormented with this issue of i94. I have a multiple entry visa till 2015, but my i94 will expire in April 15th. I am a doctor, here to give the USMLE exams, and this time frame is not enough. I need additional 6 months to clear all the exams and be ready. I checked up on the USCIS website, and it says I can apply online for extension of i94.

Has anyone applied this extension before? Do they usually give extension for 6 months, if i ask for it? Assuming I send all the proper documents, and explain them my situation with the exam, what are my chances of getting an extension? Also, lets say i applied, but i didn't get a reply till after April 15th, will that make me illegal?

I don't want to go out of the country and come back in. That will break the flow of my studies and exams. Also, I don't know if i can go out of the country for a week and come back in. Has anyone tried going to mexico at the time of expiry, staying for 2-3 days and then coming back in and his i-94 renewed for 6 months? I don't know which is a good approach : going out or applying for extension, since the CBP officer may very well ask me why I didn't apply for extension if I am only returning after 3-4 days.

Any help/experience will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

HOw is it you did not know that this process would take this much time? Those exams are not given at the last minute...in addition, USCIS will be wondering how you have been able to support yourself so long in the US without working...because staying here is not free...and as a recent medical graduate, you could not have earned and saved $50,000.....

going to Mexico for a quick turnaround will achieve exactly that....CBP has seen that ruse thousands of times, and crossing to a neighboring country will NOT reset the clock and gain you another 6 months....but please...give a it try.

[DrQamar 0]

HOw is it you did not know that this process would take this much time? Those exams are not given at the last minute...in addition, USCIS will be wondering how you have been able to support yourself so long in the US without working...because staying here is not free...and as a recent medical graduate, you could not have earned and saved $50,000.....

going to Mexico for a quick turnaround will achieve exactly that....CBP has seen that ruse thousands of times, and crossing to a neighboring country will NOT reset the clock and gain you another 6 months....but please...give a it try.

Thanks for the reply. I exactly know about the exams, and its not a problem of support/finance since I have my brothers here to support me. In fact, one of them is a green card holder. So that's not a problem at all. I can show an affidavit for support.

I will give it a try, but I just wanted to know some opinion.

[Noah Lot 391]

how many hours a week are you working for your brother(s)?

[DrQamar 0]

how many hours a week are you working for your brother(s)?

No, of course not. Why will I do that? They are my brothers, and they support me fully for nothing. I am not working or anything. I am just studying.

[Asia 2,498]

If you're studying (I'm assuming you're taking the full course, or whatever it is called - pardon me, if I'm assuming wrong), shouldn't you be on a F1 visa, instead using the B2 visa not for its purpose? I mean, you can take some courses, for example language courses if they don't take more than 18 or 20 hours per week (I'm not sure which numer is correct). If your studies take more hours, you should be doing it on the student visa.

Just my two cents, in case they will look closer at your case and will come to similar conclusions as I did.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Asia

[vbbv8118 4]

b2 visa is for tourism/leisure. f1 visa is for studying. if you're here to study, then you should pursue a student visa. applying for an extension of a tourist visa is a catch 22. it takes a while to get approved/denied. if you file late, you're rolling the dice. if it gets approved, more power to you. but if it gets denied, then by the time it took to get the decision which resulted in a denial, you would've probably overstayed, thus incurring a ban depending on how long you've overstayed.

getting out on the border (canada/mexico) and returning after a few days will raise a red flag once you try to enter back because you're on a b2 visa.

goodluck.

[Harsh_77 718]

Why would you be getting US medical Lic when you are not US resident?

You are doing something which is not a standard practice and you are using the B1/2 visa to do so.

[DrQamar 0]

Why would you be getting US medical Lic when you are not US resident?

You are doing something which is not a standard practice and you are using the B1/2 visa to do so.

I think I wasn't clear enough. I am self-studying; I haven't enrolled in any facility like Kaplan or so. And I have a genuine reason, with all the proper documentation e.g I have a visa letter from ECFMG, and the USMLE receipts/reports.

So, I am not doing anything illegal. I am just asking to extend my stay so as to clear my exams. And its not that I didn't know about the timings. The problem is the seats for step 2 CS are really hard to get, and people have applied like 6-8 months prior. So, its really congested and that's the main problem. That's the main reason I want an extension, so that I can do the exam in a timely fashion.

And I am not a US resident, but international medical graduates (IMG's) are eligible to apply for residency here. So, for that you need to clear the exams.

[Harsh_77 718]

I think I wasn't clear enough. I am self-studying; I haven't enrolled in any facility like Kaplan or so. And I have a genuine reason, with all the proper documentation e.g I have a visa letter from ECFMG, and the USMLE receipts/reports.

So, I am not doing anything illegal. I am just asking to extend my stay so as to clear my exams. And its not that I didn't know about the timings. The problem is the seats for step 2 CS are really hard to get, and people have applied like 6-8 months prior. So, its really congested and that's the main problem. That's the main reason I want an extension, so that I can do the exam in a timely fashion.

And I am not a US resident, but international medical graduates (IMG's) are eligible to apply for residency here. So, for that you need to clear the exams.

Would you not want to do the residency in the country where you are going to practice?

Are you going to practice in US?

Profs lile Lawyer or Docs generally would only work to get lic for the state or country where they going to work.

USMLE would issue receipt to anyone who will pay them to take the test, there is nothing that can be proven with those receipts.

How does other IMG's take these test, I am guessing they would be running into the same situation as yours?

[DrQamar 0]

Would you not want to do the residency in the country where you are going to practice?

Are you going to practice in US?

Profs lile Lawyer or Docs generally would only work to get lic for the state or country where they going to work.

USMLE would issue receipt to anyone who will pay them to take the test, there is nothing that can be proven with those receipts.

How does other IMG's take these test, I am guessing they would be running into the same situation as yours?

Well not exactly practice, but physicians choose to do residency in some good countries. US has one of the best specialization courses, and in essence, a residency is a type of study. Its done in a university hospital. It doesn't necessarily mean that once you complete residency, you are eligible to work in US since some hospital should be willing to sponsor an H1 visa for you. I plan to go back to Middle East, and practice there. Middle East doesn't have that well-established residency system, and besides they all follow the UK system, and I just don't want to get into that system(too long and complicated).

What else is needed to be proven to have a good case? My brother is filling an affidavit, and he is the one who is supporting me. I have proofs for everything.

[Darnell 8,479]

Please revisit getting a student visa - talk with the DSO human at the medical school, nowish.

[canadian_wife 1,826]

If the OP is not enrolled in a school, is a student visa even an option?

OP, http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=cab23e4d77d73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=cab23e4d77d73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

good luck

[Teddy B 17,252]

Well not exactly practice, but physicians choose to do residency in some good countries. US has one of the best specialization courses, and in essence, a residency is a type of study. Its done in a university hospital. It doesn't necessarily mean that once you complete residency, you are eligible to work in US since some hospital should be willing to sponsor an H1 visa for you. I plan to go back to Middle East, and practice there. Middle East doesn't have that well-established residency system, and besides they all follow the UK system, and I just don't want to get into that system(too long and complicated).

What else is needed to be proven to have a good case? My brother is filling an affidavit, and he is the one who is supporting me. I have proofs for everything.

Not sure if you've read this website before:USMLE Guide

Your options appear to be many. As Darnell suggested talk to the medical school and see what they recomend.

[Harsh_77 718]

Well not exactly practice, but physicians choose to do residency in some good countries. US has one of the best specialization courses, and in essence, a residency is a type of study. Its done in a university hospital. It doesn't necessarily mean that once you complete residency, you are eligible to work in US since some hospital should be willing to sponsor an H1 visa for you. I plan to go back to Middle East, and practice there. Middle East doesn't have that well-established residency system, and besides they all follow the UK system, and I just don't want to get into that system(too long and complicated).

What else is needed to be proven to have a good case? My brother is filling an affidavit, and he is the one who is supporting me. I have proofs for everything.

I think there lies your problem, most ppl who do it sounds like get enrolled in medical school here and than continued with their residency.

I have known lot of actual US docs go elsewhere coz its much quicker and easier outside US to get done with residency requirement.

You might want to talk to someone at a medical school maybe they can know better ways to do it rather than B1/2.