Can we leave USA while H1 application is pending approval

[pearlkrishnan]

Can we leave USA while H1 application is pending approval

Hi,

I have applied for my H1 in end of APril 2006. As my mom fell sick unexpectedly i have to leave to India ASAP.

I am planning to leave immediately and ask my husband here to collect my papers and bring them to India once he recieves them, so that i can go for h1 stamping in India.

But, my lawyer was like, if I leave USA during while my H1 application is being processed, the application would be dropped..

has any one left India before I797 reached your hands and get them mailed to India for visa stamping and entered USA with out problem?

has anyone's H1 visa application dropped becoz they ledt USA with out I797 ?

Please help...


Any opinions, and suggestions greatly appreciated..

Thanks,
preetha

[bittu218]

Same Situation

I am also in a similar situation. I applied for H1B (with change of status from L to H) in May 2006 with a new employer assuming that my project with the current company will go on till October and hence I can switch to the new employer as soon as the H1B come through and will continue with the current employer till then. However, the situation has changed and the project with my current employer is ending 2nd week of August and I will have to travel back to India in that case.

So, the question is ... would it be possible for me to travel back to India while the H1B application is pending. I can wait in India till the H1B is processed and would go for stamping whenever the visa gets through.

Kindly let me know. pearlkrishnan, kindly let me know if you got any response on that.

[swr_nagle]

We too had similar situation like yours. We had filied for transfer of H1B and my father was very sick that we had to go to India. We gave $1000/- for premium processing to Lawyer and went to India. You can not come back to US until your H1B is approved. Unfortunately we got query as we went to India while H1B transfer was ongoing. We had to fax my father's death certificate to Lawyer and 8 days later, our H1B/H4B got approved. We could travel after this to US. All the Best to you guys.