I would greatly appreciate if someone can help me with this.... Let me start with some background....
I graduated in May 05 with MBA from a university in US, and started working with a company in US on OPT status (my OPT is valid until May 06). A month later, my company filed H1B visa for me, and it got approved. The approved documentation says that the visa is valid from 1st Nov 05, and it has an I-94 on the bottom. That said, I have not yet got the H1B visa stamped on my passport.
Now, I'm planning a trip to India from 14th October to 23rd October 2005. To ensure seamless a trip, I am contemplate on the following options. Can someone please suggest if these options are feasible, and also which is the safest one:
1) Go to India, and come back on OPT status. Is this feasible? I'm assuming that if my H1B visa is valid from Nov 05, my current status is that of OPT, and I can re-enter US on that status? And I can get the H1B stamped next time.
2) Go to India on October 14th, get the H1B visa stamped there, and come back on October 23rd. However, I can't get an appointment during that period at any of the US consulates in India. Would checking periodically help? (i.e, do new slots open up?) But if that doesn't work out, then there's option 3.
3) First go to Canada on October 14th, get the visa stamped in Canada, then go to India, and then come back to US on 23rd October. If I go for this option, do I need to get a visa for Canada first? And how many days would I have to stay in Canada? (how long does it take?)
And here's my concern with options 2 & 3 above.... Considering that my H1B is valid beginning Nov 1st, can I get the visa stamped and re-enter US in October? And would the immigration guy at the US airport not get confused between my OPT & H1B status? And things like what status was I working on before leaving US? And what status would I be working on between October 23rd and 1st Nov? - I can't say H1B because it won't be valid until later, and I can't say OPT because there would be an H1B visa stamp on my passport.
Can someone please help.
Regards,
Utterly confused
I graduated in May 05 with MBA from a university in US, and started working with a company in US on OPT status (my OPT is valid until May 06). A month later, my company filed H1B visa for me, and it got approved. The approved documentation says that the visa is valid from 1st Nov 05, and it has an I-94 on the bottom. That said, I have not yet got the H1B visa stamped on my passport.
Now, I'm planning a trip to India from 14th October to 23rd October 2005. To ensure seamless a trip, I am contemplate on the following options. Can someone please suggest if these options are feasible, and also which is the safest one:
1) Go to India, and come back on OPT status. Is this feasible? I'm assuming that if my H1B visa is valid from Nov 05, my current status is that of OPT, and I can re-enter US on that status? And I can get the H1B stamped next time.
2) Go to India on October 14th, get the H1B visa stamped there, and come back on October 23rd. However, I can't get an appointment during that period at any of the US consulates in India. Would checking periodically help? (i.e, do new slots open up?) But if that doesn't work out, then there's option 3.
3) First go to Canada on October 14th, get the visa stamped in Canada, then go to India, and then come back to US on 23rd October. If I go for this option, do I need to get a visa for Canada first? And how many days would I have to stay in Canada? (how long does it take?)
And here's my concern with options 2 & 3 above.... Considering that my H1B is valid beginning Nov 1st, can I get the visa stamped and re-enter US in October? And would the immigration guy at the US airport not get confused between my OPT & H1B status? And things like what status was I working on before leaving US? And what status would I be working on between October 23rd and 1st Nov? - I can't say H1B because it won't be valid until later, and I can't say OPT because there would be an H1B visa stamp on my passport.
Can someone please help.
Regards,
Utterly confused
