H1-H1 , F1/H4-H1 and travel

T

tt tt

Registered Users (C)
Hi guys,

I see a lot of posts with confusion on their status and travel plans. I thought I could put together a summary of do's and dont's:

1) Never ever travel when ANY change or extention of status application is pending.
(Some lawyers will say that travel is ok during H1 extention or H1 transfer, or it is ok if travel to canada / mexico during change of status..but you are messing with grey areas..trust me..all these status/I-94/travel issues are of acacdemic importance to them..it is a matter of life and death for you..so always, always stick to the most conservative rule and you will not be sorry)

2) Remember that the LATEST I-94 that is issued to you is what determines your legal stay and status in the USA.

3) On H1 status, you need to show an un-expired latest H1 I-94 and paystubs and employment letter to prove that you are in legal working status. If you dont have any one..you are out of status.

4) If ever you overstay your latest I-94 validity date..you become ILLEGAL in the USA..6 months of this will get you a 3 yr ban..1 yr will get you a 10 yr ban!!

5) ALWAYS ALWAYS file for extention of H4 dependents with your H1 visa..otherwise your family's future will be screwed for no fault of theirs.

6) Please get a good lawyer..one who will show you all the docs that he plans to file and gets your sign-off on them..make sure to get all the receipt notices that he will get. Also map out a plan with the lawyer to make sure who he really works for if your employer fires you..you must be able to get access to all your docs.

hope that helps,
tt tt
 
1. Travel when a change of status is pending will cancel the change of status application. that is all.
Travel while extending the same category of visa (especially H or L only) can be easily fixed by getting a new I94.
Travel to canada requires a current valid visa in hand. But if a extension of visa is pending then you can demand while going out that your return date is so and so (within 30 days) and so by INS law you have the right to retain the same I94.
Or you can cower with fear and call it conservatism. Not doing the right thing is never conservatism.


3. So are you saying if my h1 extension is pending but my current h1 is expired (I94) I am out of status?

Everybody has a right to give their own opinion.
 
Travel during a pending change of status would mean that you need to get a new visa of the intended type before re-entering. For instance if you are changing from F1 to H1 and leave the US, then the change of status is voided. But that does not mean you cannot re-enter the US. You would have to wait for the H1B approval to come through (note this might a lot of time though), then have the approval mailed to you, then go to the consulate and get the H1B visa, and re-enter. My point of view is that this is no more complicated than traveling after you receive the F1 to H1B approval. In either case, since you have anyway decided to travel out of the country perhaps for important reasons, you anyway need to go to the consulate and take chances in getting the H1B visa stamp. The only issue is that in recent times, the H1B processing is taking an awful lot of time, so one might have to go for premium processing to get the H1B approval.
 
I think that the application for a change of nonimmigrant status *would be*abandoned, and an application for an extension of
nonimmigrant status *would not be* abandoned, and


here is the basis for that, the so-called "Cook memo":

http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/lawsregs/handbook/TravPub.pdf

"Current Service policy does not preclude an alien from traveling
outside of
the United States while a request for an extension of temporary stay is
pending with the Service"
 
The opinions that I posted are worth..

following if you dont want to muck around with the INS. I can understand the fact that some of us are victims of a bad economy and are affected by unexpected job cuts which do result in problems on one's immigration status..but if you fortunate to have dodge these bullets..the least you can do is to be very aware and pro-active in taking care that you are in legal status.

I personally did travel to Canada while my H1 extn was pending
and my wife's COS was pending as well..that was just days
before sept 11..and with not even a glance at our passports/visas we cleared canada customs as well as
US INS checks..no I-94 change or passport stamp to show for the trip..now times have changed. In the first week
of sept. 2001 it was possible to get into Canada without even
showing a driver's license on the niagara falls bridge..try that
now.

If you get your thrill in life by filing for H1 extn. 2 days before expiry and then wondering what to do if your lawyer screwed up or if your company really filed them in time..go ahead, make your day ! If you know that your H1 extn renewal is coming up..file it 6 months in advance and you can get thru the whole process without the need for extra heartbeats.

My views are of the 'money in the bank' type and if the past 3 yrs are any indication, they worked out pretty well for me.
 
beg to differ on the canada bridge. I have known people who ran into problems before 9/11 and people who have asserted (albeit missed their flights argueing, but airlines are accomodative) their rights and got back in.
This is turning into an opinion thread with lot of emotional postures. I know that seasoned players like ginnu (only posts when it is absolutely necessary) will provide the right perspective. I also know that users like ginnu weigh the responsibilities of their responses more than ratchetting a high score in posts...
It might affect somebody's life:)))
 
you dont get it...

this board is not the place to get advice on how to stay legal in the USA..it is just a place to sound off your experiances against those of others..to make sure they match enough to anticipate how the INS will react to a particular application.
If you want to get advice that could change your life..getting it from strange sounding handle names on the internet...makes it worth exactly what anyone is paid to give his opinions on this board.
Anyway I just wanted to bring up the thread for the original H1-H1 I-94 related travel guidelines.
I am going to start including a signature that will clarify what I feel on this soon.
 
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