H1- stamping and passport expiry; confused

R

rucshaca

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I am in my 7th of H1-B.

I have to revalidate my H1-B visa for another 3 years from April/2007 - April/2010. My passport in these 3 years expires in middle. Would i need to renew my passport before attempting my H1-B revalidation?

The appointment letter of Ottawa consulate says following:

--------------------------

A VALID PASSPORT OR TRAVEL DOCUMENT: To be eligible for a visa, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months past your intended stay in the United States.

--------------------------


Thanks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
rucshaca said:
Hi,

I am in my 7th of H1-B.

I have to revalidate my H1-B visa for another 3 years from April/2007 - April/2010. My passport in these 3 years expires in middle. Would i need to renew my passport before attempting my H1-B revalidation?

The appointment letter of Ottawa consulate says following:

--------------------------

A VALID PASSPORT OR TRAVEL DOCUMENT: To be eligible for a visa, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months past your intended stay in the United States.

--------------------------


Thanks.
Click to expand...

you have valid passport more than 6 months and you can get visa stamped till approval notice in the valid passport
once that passport expires and it has valid visa stamp then staple both the passport
after getting visa stamp from Ottawa consulate when you enter US you may get I-94 till your passport validity date. for more info talk to your lawyer
 
DS-156 form question

Currently, iam in my 7 th year. Since my I-140 is approved, I got I-797 approval notice for another 3 years(till april/2010). I am going for my 3 year H1-B visa revalidation in Ottawa, Canada.

Now, what do i need to say in following:

Has Anyone Ever Filed an Immigrant Visa Petition on Your Behalf?
Yes, No ????
 
rucshaca said:
Currently, iam in my 7 th year. Since my I-140 is approved, I got I-797 approval notice for another 3 years(till april/2010). I am going for my 3 year H1-B visa revalidation in Ottawa, Canada.

Now, what do i need to say in following:

Has Anyone Ever Filed an Immigrant Visa Petition on Your Behalf?
Yes, No ????
Click to expand...

Has Anyone Ever Filed an Immigrant Visa Petition on Your Behalf?
----- you will write YES as I-140 is the immigrant visa petitionand that is filed for you
 
another question ...

Thanks for all your answers. I do really appreciate all and your time.

I have another BIG question .... iam totally confused with this one:

I am going to Canada for my H1-B visa revalidation on March/08/2007.

Here is the situation and my confusion:

The H1-B visa stamped on my passport expired on April/11/2006.

Now, I have TWO I-797 approval notices:

1) 7th year; I-797 approval notice valid from April/11/2006 till April/11/2007.
1 year because my labor was pending older than 365 days with the previous employer.

2) 3 more years; I-797 approval notice valid from April/11/2007 till April/11/2010.
3 years because my I-140 is approved with a labor sub with my current employer.

QUESTION:
WHAT VISA STAMPING WILL I GET DONE?

1) 1 year visa or 3 year visa or both ?
2) If i do get 3 year visa stamped, will i be able to come in USA between my travel date of March/08/07 and Visa start date of April/11/07 ?


I am confused and i really need some help.
 
I-94 White Card

Thanks.

Another quick question?

Do i need to surrender my current I-94 WHITE CARD in the US consulate of Ottawa just before the interview ?

Or i can just keep my WHITE CARD I-94 in my pocket ?

In my case WHITE CARD I-94 is expired on April/2006.
 
rucshaca said:
Thanks.

Another quick question?

Do i need to surrender my current I-94 WHITE CARD in the US consulate of Ottawa just before the interview ?

Or i can just keep my WHITE CARD I-94 in my pocket ?

In my case WHITE CARD I-94 is expired on April/2006.
Click to expand...

Hi,
If you are flying, you have to surrender your I-94 at US airport before boarding airplane. If you are driving, make sure you surrender it at the border. A friend of mine who recently drove to canada for H1 interview and stamping, mentioned that, if you are driving, some officers at border might not know the rule for I-94 surrender and may not take it from you. This is what happened to him. My friend insisted officer to take the I-94 but he did not. Once he came back after successful H1 stamping, officer asked him why he still had the I-94 and why he did not surrender when entering Canada. My friend explained him and the office took the old I-94 and issued him a new one.

When you fly back, you will have to fill out a new I-94 form.

HTH.

Good luck.

Regards.

GCCovet
 
GCCovet,

I will be driving from NJ to Ottawa. I have been into Canada two times already in the past, infact you DO NOT NEED to surrender at the **border** at all as you NEED to have WHITE CARD handy in order to do port of entry back into USA.

But my original question was:

Do i need to surrender my WHITE CARD at the time of **stamping my Visa at the US consulate** or not ? This one, iam not sure about. Any clarifications on this would be helpful.
 
This is what I would do:
- Carry the expired I-94 along with the one that came with the new 797 form. If the officer at the consulate asks for it, submit it, else just keep it with you.

Remember this?: Answer when asked. Don't volunteer anything that is not asked for. Also don't hide anything when asked.

In the same way give the document that they ask for. Don't give it if they don't ask for it. When asked don't tell them you don't have it, if you say you don't have it then you are in trouble.


rucshaca said:
Do i need to surrender my WHITE CARD at the time of **stamping my Visa at the US consulate** or not ? This one, iam not sure about. Any clarifications on this would be helpful.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Passport Expiry Date

Hi,
Am going to Canada for stamping next week, my passport expiry date is in Aug which is less than 6 months, so I've applied for my new passport, while filling out the application form which passport details should I enter? is if the old one which is still valid and under which I made the appointment but expires in Aug or the New one which is valid only after the Old one expires? pls help

Thanks,
Rajeev
 
I have a similar situation...

I am on H1B, switched employment last year and planning to go to Canada for stamping of new visa. My previous visa is valid till Oct 2007 and my new I-94/797 is valid till 2009. However, my passport is expiring in Dec this year.
My question is, can I get a US visa that is valid beyond my passport expiry date?

Thanks and Regards
 
VinnieCool said:
I have a similar situation...

I am on H1B, switched employment last year and planning to go to Canada for stamping of new visa. My previous visa is valid till Oct 2007 and my new I-94/797 is valid till 2009. However, my passport is expiring in Dec this year.
My question is, can I get a US visa that is valid beyond my passport expiry date?

Thanks and Regards
Click to expand...

Yes that's possible, as long as your PP is valid for at least 6 months beyond the Visa Stamping Date. For example I got a 3 year H-1B stamping in April 2003 that extends beyond the passport validity period.
 
krisrajeev said:
Hi,
Am going to Canada for stamping next week, my passport expiry date is in Aug which is less than 6 months, so I've applied for my new passport, while filling out the application form which passport details should I enter? is if the old one which is still valid and under which I made the appointment but expires in Aug or the New one which is valid only after the Old one expires? pls help

Thanks,
Rajeev
Click to expand...

As per my experience, when the new passport is issued, it replaces the old one. So the previous passport become invalid but all the visas in the old passport remains valid. You have to get your visa stamped in the new passport.
 
Vinnie,

From what I understand, when you goto apply for your visa, your current passport should still have 6 months validity until date of expiration left. So let's say you go for your visa stamping in May 07, and your passport is valid until December 07, you will be issued a new visa on this passport, hopefully without any issues. However if you decide to go in August 07, that will be late since your current pasport will be expiring in less than 6 months.

Whenever you decide to get yourself a new passport, you will still have to carry your old passport with you which has all valid visas stamped in it. Once all those visas expire or are updated by newer visas on your new passport, you can stop carrying that around. So even though the passport expires, usually all valid visas on the passport remain valid and useable - you'll just have the burden of carrying an extra passport with you when travelling.

Unless you have to get your visa stamped now, you could wait until within 6 months of your current passport's expiration (most embassies often issue new passports within 6 months of pasport's expiry date and not earlier), apply for a new passport (I would say around June 2007) and then have your new visa stamped on the new passport. That way you wont have to carry the old passport with you December onwards.

Just a suggestion. Good luck.

Jawad
 
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