H1B petition + travel

[keungs]

I'm on OPT but it will expire in late March 04. My employer just filed a H1B petition for me with expediate processing.

Here are my questions--
1) Assume that my petition is granted in Mid-March, do I need to wait further to receive the EAD card?
(When I applied for OPT last year, I got the approval in July but I waited for another month or 2 to receive the OPT card by mail. I was told that I couldn't leave the country before receiving my OPT card. I wonder if the same rule applies to the H1B peition.)

2) If yes, can I continue to work while waiting for the H1B card? How long does it take for applicants to receive the document in general?

3) I'm planning to travel in the week of April 17. Is it possible that my H1B document is still on its way by that time? If yes, can I obtain some kind of documentation proving my status so that I can go in and out of the country?

Thanks.

 

[jaxen]

1. H1B approval notice is your EAD card. There are no cards given for H1Bs

2. Approval notice is the H1B visa. If it is normal processing it might take 3-6months to get the approval.

3. No, If you travel out of USA,before a decision is made on your F1 to H1 , you will be abandoning the transfer and cannot enter back into USA. You need to get a H1 stamp (like the F1 stamp in your passport) in order to enter back into USA for which you need the approval in hand. You can convert the processing to premium processing (addl 1000$). And then dont forget to get the H1 stamp (most prefer canada) before attempting to go out of usa (other than canada for stamping I mean).

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