Folks,
My current EAD is going to expire later this month. The application for renewal of EAD was filed almost 4 months back but I have not yet received the new EAD. My travel authorization (AP) is valid until November of next year. I also have a valid H-1 extension until October 2004 but the visa stamp on the passport which was based on the first H-1 has already expired. I once went to Mexico on business earlier this year and re-entered U.S. using AP. I plan to visit India in couple of weeks and will be back only in January. I had planned to get an interim EAD from Dallas INS office before I left for India but came to know that interim EAD is only being issued if not having EAD will result in termination of job. INS is asking for a letter from the employer to this effect and refused to give interim EAD to my colleague today because his letter did not explicitly mention that he will be terminated from the job without EAD. My employer told me that since I have a valid H-1 approval, I won't be terminated even if my EAD approval does not come before my current EAD expires and therefore they can't issue me a letter to that effect. Instead they advised me to get a H-1 visa from India and re-enter U.S. using the H-1 visa in January. My question is, do you see any problem with getting the H-1 visa stamp in India (New Delhi) especially since I have already used AP once to enter U.S. Another question is, will the immigration authorities ask for valid EAD at the port of entry if I were to use AP for re-entry? I would really appreciate any prompt advice on this matter.
Thanks.
My current EAD is going to expire later this month. The application for renewal of EAD was filed almost 4 months back but I have not yet received the new EAD. My travel authorization (AP) is valid until November of next year. I also have a valid H-1 extension until October 2004 but the visa stamp on the passport which was based on the first H-1 has already expired. I once went to Mexico on business earlier this year and re-entered U.S. using AP. I plan to visit India in couple of weeks and will be back only in January. I had planned to get an interim EAD from Dallas INS office before I left for India but came to know that interim EAD is only being issued if not having EAD will result in termination of job. INS is asking for a letter from the employer to this effect and refused to give interim EAD to my colleague today because his letter did not explicitly mention that he will be terminated from the job without EAD. My employer told me that since I have a valid H-1 approval, I won't be terminated even if my EAD approval does not come before my current EAD expires and therefore they can't issue me a letter to that effect. Instead they advised me to get a H-1 visa from India and re-enter U.S. using the H-1 visa in January. My question is, do you see any problem with getting the H-1 visa stamp in India (New Delhi) especially since I have already used AP once to enter U.S. Another question is, will the immigration authorities ask for valid EAD at the port of entry if I were to use AP for re-entry? I would really appreciate any prompt advice on this matter.
Thanks.