collegian

Hello, 

Here are my H-1B 6th year visa expiry dates: 

Passport visa stamp : 07/01/2018
I-797 A : 09/01/2018
Latest I-94 : 09/11/2018 

I work full time for a fairly large American company (>20K employees). My I-140 was approved in 2015 (EB-3) and most likely my company will apply for my visa under wage level 2 since I am a little below wage level 3. 

I have an urgent need to travel abroad in May 4th week for 2 weeks. I will most likely be left with 3-4 weeks of visa validity on my passport once I return. I have the following questions:

1) Should I opt for premium processing of my case? I have heard that chances of getting RFEs are higher in that, is that true?
2) Can I travel abroad during the fourth week of May while my H-1B extension adjudication is pending? Will I face any issues at Port of Entry during my return to the US?
3) What happens if I get a RFE for my petition? Will I still be able to travel abroad and return as per schedule?
4) What happens if the events abroad don't go as expected and I am unable to return before July 1, 2018 while my H-1B petition adjudication is pending or waiting for RFE response? Can I return if the petition is approved?
5) If my H-1B extension is approved before or during my travel abroad then do I need to get a new visa stamp on my passport before re-entering the US?

Thanks.

If I am reading your post correctly, it is the visa that has a July expiration date, correct? If so, that has nothing to do with how long you can stay in the US without leaving or getting an extension. That decision will be made by the immigration officer at the port of entry. The POE officer cannot extend the visa, but he can give you a departure date that exceeds the validity of the visa. The visa is merely the last day the visa can be used to enter the US; has nothing to do with how long you can stay in the US.

Yes, that is correct.

Is there a document I can present at the PoE to influence the officer's decision in my favor? From what I remember the last time, the officer just looked at the date stamped on the visa and wrote the same date. He didn't look or ask for any other documents.

Is this a 3-year extension? Did you arrive prior to your initial start date? As far as your question goes: your employer is petitioning for H1B but not for the visa stamping. Whether they can extend it or not has nothing to do with your current visa stamp's expiration date. Generally speaking if you have an approved I-140 then you should be good for extensions indefinitely.

Thanks for your responses.

Yes, this was a 3 year extension (after the first one). I didn't arrive prior to my start date, my start date was September 2, 2015.

Is there something I can do at the Port of Entry to extend the stamp validity to the I-797 expiration date?

When does your passport expire? That may be the reason.

This was in a new passport which expires in 2025.

You can walk into the nearest IRS office and get a tax return transcript which is actually a better proof. Your own copy just shows you filled it, not filed it.

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you know how much will it cost? and I see on the website they store only the current year's and upto 3 prior years returns so I am guessing prior to that I will need to take my own 'proof'? For future reference is this the standard way of proving that tax has been filed or is there a better way?

Hello,

I will be appearing for my first H-1B visa stamping interview soon (~ 1 week).

I know that federal tax return filing documents are required along with W-2 forms for the interview. I just wanted to know if it is required for those forms to be signed and have the date as well as bank related information on them?

I do have the tax return documents but I don't have signed copies having date of filing on them since I never bothered to scan them before sending . Now, I can roughly guess the dates and put it on the tax return docs. Should I do that or should I just take the unsigned dateless copies I have with me? Also is state tax return proof required as well?

Please advice.

Thanks.

I think that's the old site. India recently changed and you now need two appointments (but can get them within a day of each other if you want). The first one is not at the embassy or consulate, it's an office where they check your DS-160 and take you picture and photograph The second is for the interview with the visa officer. You can't make either appointment, though, until you fill submit the DS-160 and pay the visa application fee.

The Hyderabad consulate, in answer to questions about visas on their Facebook page refer people to www.ustraveldocs.com/in for information on the appointments.

Thanks for the information, appreciate it.

Also, would you or any one know how do I go about scheduling the interview?

I was directed to this page - https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/?language=English&country=India but as soon as I try to create a new user, I get an error - Your request cannot be processed at this time. The site administrator has been alerted.

I've tried multiple times on different browsers but each time I get the same message. Is there any way to get around this?

You can't book an appointment without paying the visa application fee and filling out the DS-160. Once you do that, I don't think the DS-160 can be changed. What do you mean by "modify"? What information do you think will change from now until December? I think there are some appointments available that far in the future, but there really isn't a reason to make one so early if your information is going to change. I think a couple of weeks before you want the interview is soon enough, and by then you should know all the information for the DS0160, right?

Thanks for the reply. I was planning to change my residence. Also, salary related information is expected to change.

2 weeks sounds good to me but I wasn't sure if dates/times of my choice would be available at that time or not so I was curious.

Have you checked with the DSO at your school?

Good luck

Check with your DSO, I have never heard of OPT extension, but the OPT regulation has changed since I graduated.

Thanks,for the replies. No, I haven't checked with the DSO at my school. I am thinking of emailing my company's HR before contacting the DSO.

~Bump~

Please,shed some light.

Hello All,

I am an F-1 graduate working full-time on OPT.My OPT expires on June 22,2012.I just had a few clarifications/questions around OPT to H-1B conversion and OPT extension:

1) As per my understanding, if my employer applies for my H-1B before April 1,2012, I will be eligible for the cap-gap arrangement and will be able to continue to work even after my OPT expires until my H-1B gets approved. Am I correct?

2) What happens if I apply for OPT extension before my employer petitions for my H-1B? Also, can I apply for OPT extension in first place (I am eligible, since I am a STEM graduate)? I mean can I do it myself or is it something which needs to be initiated by my employer?

3) What happens if my H-1B petition gets rejected? Will I still be able to continue working on some kind of cap-gap arrangement?

Please, do reply.

Thanks.

As other members have said, they need to apply and do the entire process on their own. There is no such thing as an invitation visa. If they're just visiting for less than 90 days, the proper visa is a tourist visa.

You don't do anything. They'll apply for a visa, and go to a visa interview. They'll be required to show strong ties to India, because the CO at the embassy will want to make sure that they do intend to travel back to India within 90 days. Evidence of strong ties could be jobs, home ownership or lease, ownership of other property in India, family ties, civil service etc. Whichever way they want to prove strong ties, make sure they bring proper documentation.

All in all, if they can prove to the CO at the embassy that they have strong ties to India, they're likely to get a visa. If they can't prove strong ties to India, they will not get a visa.

Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the replies. They were insightful.

The US isn't like some countries where you need an invitation in order to get a visitors visa. Anyone who wants a visitors visa can apply, but they must qualify for the visa on their own. An invitation is generally not useful.

What country are your parents from?

Thanks, for the reply. I am not sure what you mean by "they must qualify for the visa on their own". Can you shed some more light on this? My parents are from India.

Also, do you have any idea about what documents do I need to send to my parents in order for the interview?

First off, I apologize if this is not the right forum for this post, since I am not a US citizen.

Hello All,

I want to call my parents to US to visit me for a period of 1.5 months next summer. I graduated this summer and am now working full time on OPT (with F-1 visa status). I was wondering what will be the easiest method to call my parents?

I think I have two options but wanted someone to help me out a little:

1) I haven't taken the graduation walk yet, so I can take the walk next summer and can have the International Student Center of my university send out an invitation letter to my parents.

2) I can collect all the documents needed for calling my parents (tax related docs,employment letter etc.) and send a xerox copy of them to my parents along with an invitation letter.

I was wondering which of them will be easier? Also, is option 1 actually an option? I mean does that option mean that my parents need not show any other documents?

Which of the options has more success rate in terms of visa approval as well as the number of years the visa will be valid?

Please advise.

Thanks!

It depends. Anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

It says 30 days on the website. Does it really take that long?

Hello All,

I just wanted to know how much time does it take for the card to reach home after the status shows that card/document production has been ordered?

Thanks for the replies!

Hello All,

I am on F-1 student visa and I am about to graduate soon(2-3 weeks). I have applied for my OPT and expect to get it by July first week. I was wondering if it is ok to travel to my home country once I graduate. I have a job offer in hand and my joining is in July. Please advise.

Thanks in advance!

Hello All,

I am on F-1 visa and I am about to graduate within a month. I have already applied for my OPT and expect to get it within 2 months. I wanted to call my parents here. I went through this link : http://www.visajourney.com/content/visitor-visa-guide .

I just had two more questions:

1) Do I need to send a letter from the International Student Center stating that I will be graduating?

2) What other documents are required to be presented by my parents apart from the passport,DS-160 form? Are bank statements proving sufficiency of funds required?

Thanks in advance!

You can call if you want but I doubt you'll get anything useful out of them. The USCIS call center is notoriously frustrating as a lot of their responses are scripted. My guess is they will tell you to wait if you call.

Thanks again!

The website doesn't always work. A lot of people have received their visas or green cards or (insert immigration benefit here) without having their statuses updated. Sometimes, it just takes a while for the system to be updated. Just keep checking every once in a while.

Thanks for the reply. Does that mean I need not call them?