1>I think Until we have a valid I94 status, we need not worry about visa revalidation.. but if we need to travel out side US,then we have to get a new visa stamped before entering to US
2>if we have Advance parole approved with a I485/AOS application pending then we need not get a new visa stamped before entering to US
AM I MISSING ANY THING HERE?
As long as your petition is valid, you are LEGALLY entitled to stay in the US, whether your visa is current or expired. Your visa's validity matters only if you need to travel outside the US and come back here. In that case, you would need to apply in your consulate back home and
I'd suggest doing it no later than 1 year after your visa's expiration date (I don't remember the exact reason stated by my lawyer but I think that after a year, your visa's reissuance wasn't considered as a revalidation anymore, which means that you will be queued in the annual quotas for H1b visa). In case your petition has expired but you haven't spent your 6 years maximum period on H1, you can apply for an extension domestically (mine was filed under premium processing guidelines and took about a month to complete; fyi, I think it's takes about 4 months to extend it under regular processing).
Once we all get our LCs approved (hopefully
), it should take us about 4 months (referring to current processing times) to get our EADs and APs. The APs should serve as a "visa" to get us in and out from the country.
Also, keep in mind that as long as you don't use your EAD and as long as your visa is valid, you can keep on travelling in and out of the country using your visa (no need to present your AP). That means that you can still ask for your EAD and AP right after filing concurrently your I140/485 but you won't need to use them unless you decide to leave your sponsoring company. Speaking of which, it's highly recommended to make sure that :
- your I140 is approved
- your I485 is filed more than 6 months
before deciding to leave your company.
All these infos were gathered from my lawyer except the underlined statements. Back to our H1 jobs now !