How many days should be remaining on H1B before expiration to be able to enter in US

[himanshu7154]

I have my current H1B valid until May 27th 2018 and I will be trying to have my extension filed by November end 2017. I will be travelling to India next year during Feb and March. In case, my H1B extension is not approved by March 2018, will I still be able to enter into United States (in March 2018) as per my current H1B expiry date of May 27th 2018?

My wife will be traveling in May 2018, will she be able to enter into United States in May 2018 if the extension is not approved by the time she has to travel (she has her H4 valid until May27th 2018)? Basically I need to know the minimum number of days remaining on H4 to allow the dependent to be able to enter into united States.

[newacct]

There is no minimum number of days. A US visa can be used to enter up to and including on the day it expires. Now, for H1b and H4 status, the person is admitted until the expiration of the H1b petition, and if that expiration is very soon after entry, there may be questions about whether it makes sense for the person to be just admitted for such a short time. If the person is planning to apply for Extension of Status after entry and before the status expires, then that should convince the officer that there's no problem.

Note that in your case, if your H1b petition and extension of status hasn't been approved by the time you leave on your vacation in February, your leaving the US while an extension of status is pending will generally abandon the extension of status. So you will only have a pending H1b petition and no pending extension of status. And even if your H1b petition extension is approved before May, your status is not extended, so your status still ends in May, which means your company will need to file an I-129 again to request extension of status, or you will need to leave the US and re-enter with the new petition in order to be admitted until the new petition's expiration. This would also complicate your wife's extension of status, because her extension of status has to be based on your extension of status.

[himanshu7154]

There is no minimum number of days. A US visa can be used to enter up to and including on the day it expires. Now, for H1b and H4 status, the person is admitted until the expiration of the H1b petition, and if that expiration is very soon after entry, there may be questions about whether it makes sense for the person to be just admitted for such a short time. If the person is planning to apply for Extension of Status after entry and before the status expires, then that should convince the officer that there's no problem.

Note that in your case, if your H1b petition and extension of status hasn't been approved by the time you leave on your vacation in February, your leaving the US while an extension of status is pending will generally abandon the extension of status. So you will only have a pending H1b petition and no pending extension of status. And even if your H1b petition extension is approved before May, your status is not extended, so your status still ends in May, which means your company will need to file an I-129 again to request extension of status, or you will need to leave the US and re-enter with the new petition in order to be admitted until the new petition's expiration. This would also complicate your wife's extension of status, because her extension of status has to be based on your extension of status.

Thanks for the response. Based on your response, what i can understand is that, I will need to have my extension approved before I leave in Feb and have the new stamping completed before returning back. Please correct me if I am wrong with this.

Also, my wife will not be in US when i will apply for my extension. Will that be an issue?

[newacct]

Thanks for the response. Based on your response, what i can understand is that, I will need to have my extension approved before I leave in Feb and have the new stamping completed before returning back. Please correct me if I am wrong with this.

You don't necessarily need to get a new visa. For example, if your extension was approved before you leave, and you are coming back before your current visa expires in May, you can come back on that current visa and the new petition, and you will be admitted until the expiration of the new petition.

Alternately, your company can wait until you are back before applying for an extension.

Also, my wife will not be in US when i will apply for my extension. Will that be an issue?

no