I live in Boston - My mother-in-law applied for an extension to her B2 which was ending on Nov 11 2007 and she had a lawyer help her.

We did not receive notice until July 12, 2008 that her Visa had been extended 6 months to May 11, 2008. So we got the notice after the extension had ended... and the lawyer also stated that she received no notice at all during this time.

She had no intention of overstaying her extension - we were simply waiting to hear back on the status of her request.

Now, it will appear to customs that she has overstayed - however she did not willfully overstay - and they will revoke her 5 year visitor visa altogether when she leaves the country for which we have already purchased a ticket for the 8th of August.

Upon calling the INS, they said that we should go into the office and get a notice in writing that she did not overstay willfully. We tried this, they said they would not give us anything in writing and that we should go to the INS center in Vermont (? ) because they processed her papers (as I undertsand, it's a processing center... not an appointment center.. ). We do however have the notification of extension that has the dates on it.

So, the main questions, what can I do about this, what forms can I file, to express her non-willful overstay of her extension such that Borders and Customs will let her back in AND such that the consulate in Bulgaria will be receptive to what's happened (although I know they have all the latitude they want in how they treat any case).

Thanks for any help that you can give me...

PS - to muddy the waters - this extension was for medical reasons and the INS said that we should have documentation of her visits... because it would be good to have them. I'm not sure how it helps express her non-willful overstay of this particular ending extension... but that's what they said.

Normally when one file for extension of visitor's visa, I-539 must be submitted between 60-90 days before expiration date in I-94. If you don't receive any notice by this time, it's always advised that the applicant should leave US otherwise the record would indicate as "overstay visa".

Since this has been way out of hand, you may try contacting Vermont Center with evidence that she is having medical treatment in US. Reference letter from her doctor is needed. There is no specific form on case like this.

I think we are going to just send her home and then my wife, who has her citizenship, will file an I-130.

Will there be any penalties because of her overstay or will they deny the I-130 application because of her overstay?

Since she's already overstayed. Why not appeal to Vermont Service Center about receiving late notice? If the record can be wiped out, then her visitor's visa remains valid.

In case you are filing I-130 for her, there are few things you should know:

In case she has record of overstay visa, she would need to file a waiver on ground of inadmissible which recommended to be handled by immigration attorney. Once the waiver is approved, then she will receive the visa.

In order to maintain permanent resident status, she must stay in US at least 6 months a year and leaving US longer than 1 year without filing re-entry permit means he green card will be automatically revoked. So if she only wants to visit you for certain period, she should remain on visitor's visa. If she is willing to settle down permanently in US, then file I-130.