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How Do I Let INS Know My Travel Plans Have Changed?
Why Do I Need to Notify INS if my Travel Plans Change?
How Do I Notify INS if My Travel Plans Have Changed?
Where Can I Find the Law?
How Can I Find the Status of My Application?
How Can I Appeal?
Can Anyone Help Me?
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Do I Need to Notify INS if my Travel Plans Change?
If you are travelling to the United States as a worker
in the following visa categories, your employer will have filed
a nonimmigrant visa petition in your behalf:
H - Temporary Workers
L - Intracompany Transferees
O - Aliens of Extraordinary Ability
P - Entertainers and Athletes
Q - Participants in International Exchange Programs
R - Religious Workers
The INS approval notice for your petition will designate the U.S.
Consulate where you will obtain your nonimmigrant visa. If you
are from a visa-exempt country, your approval notice will designate
the port-of-entry where you are to enter the U.S, rather than
a U.S. Consular office.
If you (the beneficiary of the petition) intend to cross the border
at a different INS port-of-entry or receive your nonimmigrant
visa at a different U.S. Consular office than is indicated on
your petition approval notice, your employer (who filed the visa
petition) must notify INS of the change in your travel plans.
Once notified, what INS will do depends on whether you do or
do not need a visa:
- Visa Required: the INS will notify the U.S.
Consular office where you will be obtaining your nonimmigrant
visa that your petition has been approved. The U.S. Consular office
must receive the notice of approval from INS before the U.S. Consulate
can provide you with the documentation necessary for entry into
the U.S.
- Visa Not Required: (e.g., Canadians and
some residents of islands adjacent to the United States), the
INS will notify the port-of-entry where you will enter the U.S.
that your nonimmigrant petition has been approved. The port-of-entry
must receive this notification before the port-of-entry can provide
you with the documentation necessary for entry into the U.S.
If you travel outside the United States and desire to re-enter
the country, please carry your original approval notice with you.
How Do I Notify INS if My Travel Plans Have Changed?
If an INS petition has been approved for you, your employer
will need to file INS
Form I-824 (Application for Action on an Approved Application
or Petition) to notify INS of the change.
Your employer must file INS Form I-824 (Application for Action
on an Approved Application or Petition), including the correct
fee, with the INS office that approved the original petition.
Detailed information is provided in the instructions for Form
I-824.
Forms are available by calling 1-800-870-3676, or by submitting
a request through our forms
by mail system. For further information on filing fees,
please see INS
filing fees, fee
waiver request procedures, and the INS
fee waiver policy memo.
Where Can I Find the Law?
There is no statute that covers this action. However,
rules governing Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved
Application or Petition, are published in Title 8 of the Code
of Federal Regulations under 8
CFR § 103.5b.
How Can I Find the Status of My Application?
Your employer should contact the INS office where the
application is filed. Your employer should be prepared to provide
the INS staff with specific information about the application.
Please click here for complete instructions on checking the status of your application. Please click
here for information on INS
offices.
How Can I Appeal?
If your employer's application is denied, your employer will
receive a letter that will tell your employer why the application
was denied. Your employer may submit a motion to reopen or a motion
to reconsider to the same office that made the unfavorable decision.
By filing a motion, your employer is asking the office to reexamine
or reconsider its decision. A motion to reopen must state any
new facts that would support your employer's motion. Your employer
may be required to submit affidavits or other documentary evidence
in support of these new facts. A motion to reconsider must establish
that the decision was based on an incorrect application of law
or INS policy, and further establish that the decision was incorrect
based on the evidence in the file at the time the decision was
made. For more information, please see How
Do I Appeal the Denial of Petition or Application?.
Can Anyone Help Me?
If advice is needed, you or your employer may contact the
INS District Office near your home for a list of community-based,
non-profit organizations that may be able to assist you in applying
for an immigration benefit. Please see our INS
field offices home page for more information on contacting
INS offices. In addition, please see our Webpage that provides
information on obtaining free
legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
Do you want further information? Please see our Frequently
Asked Questions. Also, please see the State
Department Website for more information on U.S. Embassies and Consulates.
The above information has been obtained from INS and was last modified on 7/18/2002
Copyright © 1999-2002 American Immigration LLC, ILW.COM
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