Do I need to get H1-B Stamping?

M

missie

Registered Users (C)
Hello!

I am currently working at Company A (H1-B Stamping and I-94 valid until January 2004). If I were to get a new job in a new company, my new company will need to sponsor my new H1-B. Is it correct to assume that I will receive an entirely new H1-B and new I-94 with new expiry date altogether?
Also, does it mean that I\'ll need to get my H1-B Stamp on my passport again?
If anyone knows about this, please let me know.
Thank you for your info. It\'s much appreciated.

-Missie
 
No Title

yes you will get a new i-94 with new validity dates on it along with your new H1. it is safe to get the new H1 stamped on your passport, however if the current stamp on your passport is valid for more than 6 months, you cannot send it to St Louis for stamping the new visa. you can exit US, get the new Visa stamped and come back in. if you are not planning to exit the country, you can just hold on to the documents(new H1) until you are less than 6 months for the expiry of the current stamp on your passport and then send it for stamping. if you have to go out of USA and for some reason cannot get the new H1 stamped, you can come back into the US with your old stamp, new H1 documents. however, in the old stamp new documents case the Visa stamp on your Passport must be valid for atleast another 6 to 8 weeks from that date you are trying to come back in.
 
I have similar state..

Me (H1) and my wife (H4) have our passports stamped with company A, valid till Oct 2004. But I changed to company B, in march 2002, and still waiting for the H1/H4 approval. My wife has travelled to India, and will be returning on May 31, but as the approval has not come in yet, lawyer advised to extend her stay in India till it comes..
I think the date of the new approval will be different than my prior visa stamp of prv employer (Oct 2004). As per dept of state website, it says that you can travel out/in USA with old employer visa stamping and new I-797, but I am not sure whether to get stamping for new employer done for my wife or not..any experience/ideas ?
thanks
 
called DOS, Visa specialist said i do not need a new visa

2 months ago called DOS and spoke to a visa specialist. The lady said that i definately do NOT need a new visa because my old visa(with company A) is still valid. I asked her to fax me a written statement to confirm it, she said she cant do that.

I speak to others and get contradicting stories. I am unsure too whether I would need a new visa because I will be going back in 2 weeks. Just in case i do not get a new visa, i will be carrying the print out from DOS website which states that I do not need a new visa.

So, anyone out there who knows whether it is ok to use old visa which is still valid or not, please post here.
 
Same conflicting story here

I too had called up the DOS (some number with area code 202) and the lady said that there\'s no need of new stamping in this scenario, where the old employer visa stamp is still valid.
I posted my case on this site as well, for my wife who is in India will be travelling back once the new approval (I-797) comes..so Jaxen replied that if you have time you can get restamping done from India for wife, as it depends upon the immig officer..you can search on "H1B employer change v/s Travel outside USA" in the discussions, to find my posting.
My company lawyer so far says that there is no need of re-stamping.
If someone has any such experience of travel outside USA and re-entry with OLD (but valid date) employer visa and new employer I-797, pl. share..I\'ll highly appreciate..

thanks
S.
 
yes, we did it..

as long as your old H1 stamp is valid and you carry your new I797 and related documents while travelling , you can visit in/out of US . we had the same case and visited India and came back w/o getting new H1 stamped.
 
No Title

i went through this in 2001 december. you do NOT need the new visa stamped on your passport. all you need is the new i-797 approval notice and a validity of atleast 6 to 8 weeks on the old visa.this is what happend to me.....

I went to India in NOV 01, and went to the chennai consulate for getting stamped the new visa on my passport. but at the consulate, they refused my visa saying the documentation from the new employer was not proper and asked few more documents. i didn\'t have enough time to wait for the new documents and was just week away from returning date. i boarded the flight with the new I-797 but old visa on the passport. at the port of entry at LAX, the immigration inspector asked for my passport and new I-797. she stamped my I-94 and put the new date(from new I-797) on it. since i was the last person in the Queue, i asked her i was needed a new visa to enter and she said " all you need is a valid passport, old visa valid atleast for 6 to 8 weeks and the new I-797 with the I-94 attached to it". hope this helps.
 
Thanks for update..a question though..

The new I-797 (with the new employer) also has a I-94 which has the new validity. The number of this I-94 will be the same as that I-94, which you must have surrendered when leaving USA.
So, when you entered, you filled up a new I-94 which was stapled by the immigration officer on your passport. What about the I-94 which was on the new I-797 ? Did you staple the same to the I-94 stapled on your passport upon coming back home ? Mean next time you leave USA, you will be surrendering two I-94\'s with different numbers..
 
What other related documents should be carried ?

As my wife (H4) will be travelling alone, could you share what other documents should she carry, other than her I-797 ? thanks
 
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