Immigration History

It is very important to provide documentation to show that the beneficiary is in legal immigration status if he or she wants an extension, change of status, etc. and is currently in the US. All H petitions, even those for extensions, must include documentation of the beneficiary's entire immigration history. Even if you have submitted such documentation previously, you need to submit it again for all subsequent petitions.

Beneficiaries/employees in the U.S. will provide

• Passport photo/biographical information page.
• Passport pages bearing US visa and entry stamps. All I-94 receipts in the possession of the beneficiary.
• All "Notices of Action" (form I-797). This includes all previous H approval notices, even those from previous periods of H status, and even if those periods of H status were not at Stanford.
• Anything else that bears upon immigration status. This includes all DS-2019s if beneficiary was ever in J visa status; copy of the waiver approval if J beneficiary was ever subject to 212.e; all I-20s if beneficiary was ever in F status along with copy of EAD if OPT was granted; approved I-140 immigrant petition, etc.

Beneficiaries who are not in the US do not need to provide a copy of the I-94 card but should provide copies of passport pages. If such a beneficiary was ever in the US in F, J, or H status, the visa documents (H-1 approval notices, DS-2019s, I-20s and, if OPT was granted, the EAD card copy) relevant to those periods of visa status should be submitted.