My relatives came to America from China (not Wuhan) in the middle of January, and they have a B2 tourist visa, meaning that they can only stay in the US for 6 months. They had planned to return at the end of the Chinese New Year holiday, but they are stuck here after their flight to China was canceled. Now, they have applied for many flights, but they were all canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Their B2 tourist visa will expire soon, but they cannot leave. What should they do? Should they go to a court, or will this be automatically excused by the US?
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1This has been answered many times on Travel, e.g. this– mustaccioMay 18, 2020 at 17:40
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They must apply for an extension of the visa: you can read about the UCIS covid-19 response here. The application must be "timely", so this should be done now. Even though the extension will probably be pending for some time, if the application is filed in a timely fashion, which puts off unlawful presence status. Also read about "Special circumstances".
answered May 18, 2020 at 16:01
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Technically, they can only apply for an extension of status. US visas are only for entry and cannot be extended. The visa's expiration date has no bearing on how long one can stay in the US in any case. It's the status given on the I-94 that determines how long one can stay. May 21, 2020 at 8:22