H1B Travel - Petition Expires in 2 weeks

[ajin]

Hi,

I came to India for vacation on Jan 2019 during which I had visa stamping and was issued with a 221G seeking for the client letter. Since my client was not willing to issue to the client letter, I went for H4 stamping(April 29,2019) as my wife had a valid H1B and she was in US, I had 2hr long interview with the visa office asking me why I came for H4 when I had a valid H1B after many questions and discussion finally she agreed to process my H1B with the employers SOW document between the client.
I submitted my SOW (May 1,2019) after which I got a response from embassy on May 28,2019 to submit my passport for further processing.

1.My issue here is that the I797 expires by June 15,2019...will my visa be stamped only till June 15,2019 or will I get any buffer days so that I can travel? Will there be any issues at the POE if the visa is stamped with some date which is beyond the petition expiry date?

2.If at all I get my visa stamped till June 15,2019, can I travel to US and will there be any issues in POE? But My employer is saying not to travel as they will not be able to file the extension with the time frame for filing my extension.

I am not really sure why embassy asked to submit my passport as I only have few days left as per my I797 expiry. I desperately need to travel to US as my family is there in US.

Appreciate you response in this.

Thanks,
Ajin

[Mogu]

In all my past experience, they use the same expiration date for the visa as listed on your i797. They are often two dates listed there 10 days apart - one is work authorization date and the other is stay-till date. Visas typically use the earlier work authorization date.

When you're at the PoE, the CBP offier MAY at his/her discretion use the latter day and give you a 10 day grace period to stay. However, I've had both done to me. Not all CBP officers give you the 10 day period on your I-94.

I'm not sure the visa would give you any additional days though.

If you travel with a visa expiring June 15, then you could still travel to the US. I don't think you'll have issues but the officer might ask you the purpose of entering for a short period. However, you would need to return by June 15 if your employer is not willing to file a new H1B application by that date (I don't know how the EVC visas work but I thought it was NOT open to be filed all year).

I'd say it was safe to opt for H4 but they already gave you a hard time.

[ajin]

Thanks Mogu for your response, my employer said he wont be able to file the extension if I only get the visa stamped till June 15,2019. And my passport is still with the embassy
If I get my visa stamped till June 15 and if I apply for H1B extension under Non-Cap from India would I be eligible for drop box or do I need for stamping again?

[Mogu]

I have never personally not used the visa before so don't have experience of that. Otherwise, per the rules as I read them, you would be eligible for dropbox. Now, the only extra issue is if they will question applying so soon again without using the visa.

If you apply for dropbox and if they want to clarify what is going on with this situation, then it is possible that they might ask you to schedule an interview. I don't know if that would mean that you have to wait in line to get an appointment or if you could show up without an appointment.

[ajin]

Yes thats what I am worried about now, not sure if they would ask me to re-apply for extension and then come back for stamping which would again delay by travel to another 2~3 months.