My wife came to the US in December 2004 on H4. She has a bachelors in engineering from India. We applied for her H1 in August 2005. We did not receive the approval pending a query and due to regular processing until now in February 2006. We now got the H1 approved but the Change of Status was not approved because we went out of the country in December. We went on a cruise to Bahamas for less than 24 hours and didnt realize that we were not supposed to travel outside the US while a petition was in for approval of H1 and Change of Status from H4 to H1.
The approved H1 came with a letter to apply for a visa at Chennai consulate (H4 was originally stamped here) and an approval letter was sent to this consulate. It also says that if we wish to attend a different consulate the petitioner needs to apply I-824 requesting the H1 approval notification be sent to the consulate we wish to attend.
1. We plan to attend for her H1 stamping in Nogales, Mexico (March 6th, 2006) and would appreciate if anyone can share similar experiences.
2. I am currently on a H1 valid until March 2008 from employer B, but my H1 Visa stamp is only valid until Jan 2007 from my employer A, which was approved in Jan 2004. Basically I transferred my H1 to the new company B in March 2005 and received the approval for another 3 years from then. Would anyone of you recommend that I get my H1 stamped until March 2008 because my old H1 stamp is only until Jan 2007 or should I get it done in Chennai? Please share any similar experiences.
3. My wife's employer (petitioner) is sending in the I-824 requesting the notification of H1 approval be sent to Nogales Consulate. Does anyone know how long its going to take for Vermont Center to send the notification to Nogales consulate? How do we know that they are notified?
4. What if they are not notified before our appointment time? Can we take the proof of our I-824 application that we send to Vermont center and apply for her H1 visa?
5. Can we apply for her SSN meanwhile with this approved H1 and no I-94?
6. Finally, any precautions/concerns that we need to take for attending the interview in Mexico?
I appreciate any responses for any of the above questions. Thanks for your help.
The approved H1 came with a letter to apply for a visa at Chennai consulate (H4 was originally stamped here) and an approval letter was sent to this consulate. It also says that if we wish to attend a different consulate the petitioner needs to apply I-824 requesting the H1 approval notification be sent to the consulate we wish to attend.
1. We plan to attend for her H1 stamping in Nogales, Mexico (March 6th, 2006) and would appreciate if anyone can share similar experiences.
2. I am currently on a H1 valid until March 2008 from employer B, but my H1 Visa stamp is only valid until Jan 2007 from my employer A, which was approved in Jan 2004. Basically I transferred my H1 to the new company B in March 2005 and received the approval for another 3 years from then. Would anyone of you recommend that I get my H1 stamped until March 2008 because my old H1 stamp is only until Jan 2007 or should I get it done in Chennai? Please share any similar experiences.
3. My wife's employer (petitioner) is sending in the I-824 requesting the notification of H1 approval be sent to Nogales Consulate. Does anyone know how long its going to take for Vermont Center to send the notification to Nogales consulate? How do we know that they are notified?
4. What if they are not notified before our appointment time? Can we take the proof of our I-824 application that we send to Vermont center and apply for her H1 visa?
5. Can we apply for her SSN meanwhile with this approved H1 and no I-94?
6. Finally, any precautions/concerns that we need to take for attending the interview in Mexico?
I appreciate any responses for any of the above questions. Thanks for your help.