Travel on AP while H1 extension pending

[rkg12345]

Hello-

My H1 expires in mid-Feb 2005. My lawyer says that the extension approval typically takes 4-5 months (yet to be filed). I am planning to go to out of country in early Feb and return in March on Advance Parole document.

- If I leave the country while the extension is being processed, will the petition be abandoned automatically?
- Can I use AP on the way back in and still preserve my H1 status and also the status of the pending application? I have my EAD as well, so I can use that if the H1 is invalidated but I would like to continue working on H1 till the whole GC process is completed.

My lawyer says that the H1 and EAD/AP can be used interchangeably, so there would be no problem but I am still jittery about this. Has anyone faced this situation before? Would highly appreciate your responses.

Thank you!

 

[jllag1]

Hello-

My H1 expires in mid-Feb 2005. My lawyer says that the extension approval typically takes 4-5 months (yet to be filed). I am planning to go to out of country in early Feb and return in March on Advance Parole document.

- If I leave the country while the extension is being processed, will the petition be abandoned automatically?

--> I think I read on murthy chat that you should not leave country when any petition is pending. It is supposed to invalidate it. I am not real sure of this, so check with your lawyer.

- Can I use AP on the way back in and still preserve my H1 status and also the status of the pending application? I have my EAD as well, so I can use that if the H1 is invalidated but I would like to continue working on H1 till the whole GC process is completed.

--> If you use AP to enter, you logically will be in 485 pending status, which means that you have to use EAD to work and not the 240-day grace period one gets when H1 extension is pending. Assuming your extension petition is not affected by your leaving the country, you can get back into H1 status by leaving the country and reentering back on H1 and getting a H1 based I-94.

My lawyer says that the H1 and EAD/AP can be used interchangeably, so there would be no problem but I am still jittery about this. Has anyone faced this situation before? Would highly appreciate your responses.

Thank you!