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My wife and I are in the US. She has a B-2 visa and we plan to change her status to O-3. USCIS is supposed to send a new I-94 form after approving a change of status.

After changing the status to O-3, if my wife leaves the US and enters again with the B-2 visa and the new I-94 form, will she get a O-3 status? Or must she apply for a new O-3 visa in a US embassy before entering the US again?

Surprisingly, the answer I get from different sources (USCIS and attorneys) are completely different. The attorney says my wife has to apply for a new O-3 visa, but several USCIS representatives (via USCIS website chat) told me that she would get an O-3 status with the B-2 visa + I-94.

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  • What are the different answers you get from those different sources?
    – phoog
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 1:22
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    Can you post the specific quotes from USCIS suggesting she doesn't need a visa for reentry? Then we can see whether they are actually wrong or if it's just a misunderstanding of "visa" vs "status".
    – krubo
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 16:33
  • Sorry, I didn't keep chat logs.
    – ChronoTrigger
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 20:48

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Your wife cannot enter the US in O-3 status with a B-2 visa, except under automatic revalidation, which she can use only if she is returning from a trip of no more than 30 days' duration in which she has not gone anywhere other than Canada and/or Mexico.

Therefore, if she leaves the US under any other circumstances, she will need to get an O-3 visa at a US consulate before she can return.

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  • Thanks @phoog. I updated my question. Any idea why the USCIS answer is different?
    – ChronoTrigger
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 3:13
  • @ChronoTrigger did you give USCIS reason to think that she'd only be in Mexico and or Canada for 30 days or less before returning to the US?
    – phoog
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 3:28
  • No, I specified Spain.
    – ChronoTrigger
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 5:03
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    @ChronoTrigger USCIS doesn't admit people to the US. Maybe they gave that answer out of confusion. Try asking CBP what they think. I suppose their answer will agree with the lawyers.
    – phoog
    Commented May 16, 2018 at 12:53

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