Urgent:H1 extn applied, not approved yet. Can get H1 stamping done in Chennai?

[M Jay]

My wife needs to travel to India immediately as her mother is sick. Here are the details:

-She is on H1 status.
-1st H1 (for 3 yrs) expired on July 1st 2002.
-H1 extension applied in March 2001 at VSC, not approved yet.
-Came to US on F1 visa.
-While on OPT, changed to H1 status.
-She doesn't have H1 stamp in the passport.

Can she get H1 stamped from Chennai with H1 extension application notice (no approval notice yet)?

Anyone, please advise. Very urgent. Need to travel asap.

Thanks!

 

[jaxen]

bit of a quandary...

Chennai consulate will not stamp without a current valid approval notice and
U cannot invoke AC21(to enter using pending h1) since she does not have a h1 stamp yet in the passport. Consult a lawyer for options.

The best option would be to convert this h1 extension to premium processing and ask for consular notification. Wait for approval at chennai and get stamped and reenter. Might take upto 30 days to accomplish all this...(i.e, after 30 days she will be able to enter US)

 

[M Jay]

H1 extn approved!

Thanks Jaxen for your response. We heard yesterday from INS that the H1 extension has been approved on Aug 13. That's a relief! AVM not updated yet.

I contacted our attorneys. They all said that if anyone travels while H1 extn is in process, that application will be considered abandoned. The only way is to do consular processing which will take some time. Anyways, we are glad that the approval came right in time.

Thanks!