Validity of Previous Company\'s HIB Visa Stamping

Raja007

New Member
I have got my previous company\'s H1B Visa stamped and is valid
till Aug 2003 and I have not got stamped my current company\'s
HIB Visa yet. If I have to visit India now Do I need to get
my current company H1B stamped on my return from India or
Can I use the previous stamping (which has the validity
till Aug 2003) since my stay in India will be very short
and I will not be able to get the stamping done with in that
period.
 
No Title

You don\'t need another stamping on the passport as the current one is valid till 2003. Make sure the new I-94 will be valid till the expiration of the current(new) H1 at the PORT of Entry while coming back to US
 
It depends...

The previous answer is correct only if your previous employer had not revoked your visa (I-129). To check it you have to call INS and check status of your visa (WAC-xx-xxxx at visa in your passport).
Usually after H1B-H1B transfer your previous company send INS letter that you have stopped work with them. After this INS revoke your visa and it is necessary to revalidate visa (by Dos) or restamp it by consulate.
 
It is enough complicated question!

I am in the same boat and had to cancel my trip due to revocation of my not-expired visa by previous employer (he had not informed me about his actions and INS letter went to him).
From one side one can go to DoS site and read :
"Please note that you do not require a new visa merely because you have changed employers and received a new I-797 petition from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). If your current visa is still valid, you may reenter the US with that visa as long as you are in possession of a valid I-797, even though the visa contains the information from your former employer." (http://www.travel.state.gov/revals.html).

Or one can read at http://www.murthy.com/arc_uds/UDh1pass.html the information about well-known Aytes\'s memo :
"The grey area which had been created by the INS and the U.S. State Department with respect to the validity of the visa stamp in the passport where an employee changes employers but has an unexpired visa stamp in the passport appears to have been clarified.

Commissioner Michael Aytes in a Memo in July 1997 stated that according to INS and Dept. of State policy, in the case of an H, L, O, or P nonimmigrant visa, the visa remains valid during its validity period regardless of a change in the beneficiary\'s employer.

The INS officer at the port of entry is supposed to stamp the I- 94 with the expiration date for the present employer on whose H1B Petition approval the Beneficiary is entering the U.S. although the visa stamp in the passport may have a different expiration date."

From other side, it is necessary to understand that in both cases it is mensioned the VALID and UN-EXPIRED visa. Valid - means NOT-REVOKED.
I am not lawyer, but this is opinion of our company lawyer ( no luck in this world...). The same is written at "http://garychodorow.tripod.com/faqs/travel.html#Change of Employer by H, L, or O Nonimmigrants" :

"Change of Employer by H, L, or O Nonimmigrants:

An H, L, or O visa remains valid up until the date of its expiration. This is true even if the visa holder has changed employers since the visa was first issued. The procedure for entry is for the alien to present the new H, L, or O approval notice along with the old visa while applying for admission. As a practical matter, however, there is a risk in relying on the old visa because the old employer is required under INS regulations to notify INS if the foreign national leaves its employ, at which time the visa should be revoked.

References: INS CO Memo Michael Aytes, Asst. INS Comm\'r Adjudication, reprinted in 74 Interp. Rel. 1459 (9/22/97). Also see letter from H. Edward Odom to Martin L. Rothstein (2/12/97), reprinted in 74 Interp. Rel. 592 (4/7/97). ".

Of course, everyone can try to re-entry to USA with revoked non-expired visa (many people had done it before Sep 11th without problems), but in current situation I prefered to cancel my trip and I would be afraid to advice such way to somebody else...
 
Very informative post!

Sheela Murthy is an extremely capable immigration attorney. However, I tend to believe DOS and INS authorities on matters over any attorney since INS and DOS are the ones who are making the decisions. Here, INS and DOS are both saying the same thing. Seems pretty safe to me but there\'s certainly nothing wrong with being on the safe side. BTW, you chose to cancel your trip to be safe, you were not required to do so and DOS (ones who issue the visas) and an INS Assistant Commissioner (the ones who let you in the country and determine how long you can stay) are both saying that it is ok to travel on the old visa in this situation.

Jim
 
I am afraid that you are not right...

You missed one significant word.
"DOS and INS are both saying that it is ok to travel on the old VALID visa in this situation." VALID means - NOT-REVOKED. If you look at
DS-156 (or old variant OF-156), it is question - "Have your visa been revoked ?". It clearly shows that revoked visa is NOT_VALID (even it is not expired). Once again, I am not lawyer and I am not INS Commisioner (unlucky to me, probably :-)).
I was thinking as you and ordered my tickets without any idea that I would not be able to re-entry to USA. And when my lawyer told me to check status of my visa in INS and when they (autophone system) told me "Your petition was revoked" and lawyer told me that I have to revalidate/restamp visa I didn\'t belive her and began to search www and other sources. Sorry for long sentence. As result of this search it became clear enough that situation is 50:50. Before Sept 11th I would make trip. But in current situation better not to make stupid things. So everyone decides to himself. But this everyone SHOULD keep in mind that during attemp to reentry into USA it may be serious problems which can lead to more serious ones!
 
No, I\'m afraid the key word is "visa" INS revoked the underlying "PETITION"

You now have another approved, valid petition and both INS and DOL state that it is ok to travel with the old "valid" visa (nobody in DOS has cancelled it) and the new petition.

Doesn\'t hurt to play it safe though.

Jim
 
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