I-797 approval extension

[h1b_question]

My I-797 petition expires in Jan 31, 2014. I am visiting India for H1B stamping in Jan 2013. I guess I will get a visa valid until Jan 31,2014. Since I plan to travel to India again in 2014, I was wondering if there is a way to extend my current petition expiry date, so that I can get a visa stamp that is valid longer. (This would save me a trip to the consulate in 2014.)

Thanks for your help!
-R

[immihelp]

Not treally.

Your employer will need to file an extension for that. And if your current petition expires in Jan 2014, they are unlikely to do anything about it now.

[h1b_question]

Thanks for your reply!

-R

[itsshanks]

Thanks for your reply!

-R

Your employer can not file an extension beyond 6 months in advance. So they'll have to wait around July 2013 if your H1 is expiring in Jan 2014