Port of Entry with 6 months passport validity

[Ramman]

Hi,

My name is Ram. I am traveling to India from early this Feb to Feb 24. My passport expires on 27 Aug '16. Though I have exactly six months for my passport validity, will this be a problem during port of entry and btw my airlines is etihad so my immi will be at Abu dhabi. Since I have just 2 weeks before my travel I cannot renew my passport in US and also I don't have a valid address proof back in India so i can't renew my passport there.

Please help me with your suggestions and tell me whether I will have problem during port of entry.

Thanks

[raghvi]

Hi,

My name is Ram. I am traveling to India from early this Feb to Feb 24. My passport expires on 27 Aug '16. Though I have exactly six months for my passport validity, will this be a problem during port of entry and btw my airlines is etihad so my immi will be at Abu dhabi. Since I have just 2 weeks before my travel I cannot renew my passport in US and also I don't have a valid address proof back in India so i can't renew my passport there.

Please help me with your suggestions and tell me whether I will have problem during port of entry.

Thanks

Problem at Port of Entry in US or in India? I dont think you will have any problem at either as long as you have a valid passport while entering India and as long as you have a valid passport, visa, I797 while entering US. The issue that you will most probably have to deal with when you re enter US is that at the US Port of Entry the officer will most likely grant you I-94 (period of authorized stay) only till your passport expiry date, and you will need to file an extension before I-94 expiry.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[Ramman]

Problem at Port of Entry in US or in India? I dont think you will have any problem at either as long as you have a valid passport while entering India and as long as you have a valid passport, visa, I797 while entering US. The issue that you will most probably have to deal with when you re enter US is that at the US Port of Entry the officer will most likely grant you I-94 (period of authorized stay) only till your passport expiry date, and you will need to file an extension before I-94 expiry.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thanks for the reply. I was asking about re entering US. I have a valid I797 until "May 2017" but I do have to get Visa stamping when I go to India, now I wonder whether will they give me stamping till May 2017 or until the passport validity date. Now I have two questions

1) While in India Will they give me stamping with 6 month passport validity?
2) While re entering US if i was stopped due to passport validity, can I mention like I have 6 months passport validity and I will renew as soon as I enter US

Thanks

[raghvi]

Thanks for the reply. I was asking about re entering US. I have a valid I797 until "May 2017" but I do have to get Visa stamping when I go to India, now I wonder whether will they give me stamping till May 2017 or until the passport validity date. Now I have two questions

1) While in India Will they give me stamping with 6 month passport validity?
2) While re entering US if i was stopped due to passport validity, can I mention like I have 6 months passport validity and I will renew as soon as I enter US

Thanks

1. I think Indian citizens is excluded from the 6 Month passport validity requirement. If it was expiring within a month or so they would ask you to get a new one, but with 6 Months passport validity they would most likely give you visa till May 2017 as long as other H1 related documents (client letter etc) are valid.
2. I dont think you will be stopped for this reason alone, yes , as I said earlier, you will most likely get I-94 only till 27th Aug 2016.

This is my opinion not legal advice.