H1B Transfer in Process. Need to visit India.

[sundareshwarj]

Hi,

My H1B transfer was filed on 07th Sep 2011. I have asked my new employer to initiate the process for converting my H1B transfer from normal processing to Premium Processing and most probably in 2-3 days my employer will send all the necessary documents to USCIS for converting my H1B transfer to Premium Processing.

Now I have to go to India for my wedding and I am planning to start on 19th Nov 2011. If I get my H1B Transfer petition approved before 19th Nov then there is no problem. If not I have below questions.

1. Can I travel out of US when my H1B Transfer is in process?

2. I understand that I need the new employer I-797 along with my visa for re-entering US. I am planning to go to India for 3 weeks and I am sure that USCIS will provide some status before that. My main concern is will there is any out of status issue when my H1B Transfer is still not approved and I leave the country?

3. What will happen if I leave US before my H1B transfer is approved and I get an RFE when I am in India? Will there be any problem?

Please help!!!...

Thanks,

[kabkaba]

You will be fine if transfer gets approved or denied while you are outside US. Then you can just use whichever employer's approval notice that you want to work for to enter the US. I assume your Visa is valid.
But if transfer is still pending (that will happen even in premium if they send an RFE), then you will have to return with old employer's petition and work for them. The new employer's petition may then be approved without I-94. If that happens, you will have to leave and return again (Canada or Mexico okay), in order to start working for the new employer.
Have you left the old employer already?

[sundareshwarj]

Thanks for your response.

Yes, I have already left my old employer. I think if my H1B transfer gets denied I cannot come back to US. I think even if I am in US and it gets denied then I have to go back to India since I have already resigned my old employer.

I am more concerned about leaving US when my H1 Transfer is still in pending state. From your statement I understand that if I leave US when it is still not approved and it gets approved after I reach India I can still come back to US with the new employer's I-797. Please confirm.

I was reading some forums and came across few posts which mentioned that if I leave US when the application is not approved and still in process then it means that I have abandoned the application and it gets invalidated, but they were in case of H1 Extension. I wanted to know if this is true and will apply in my case to for H1 Transfer.

I have Valid H1B visa stamped till 2013.

Thanks again.

[shervin143]

Yes, I have already left my old employer. I think if my H1B transfer gets denied I cannot come back to US. I think even if I am in US and it gets denied then I have to go back to India since I have already resigned my old employer.
>>> If the H1B transfer gets denied and if the previour employer hasn't revoked the H1B petition and if they are still willing to employ you, then you can return back to U.S using the petition from the old employer and a valid H1B visa and start working for the old employer again.

I am more concerned about leaving US when my H1 Transfer is still in pending state. From your statement I understand that if I leave US when it is still not approved and it gets approved after I reach India I can still come back to US with the new employer's I-797. Please confirm.
>>> That is correct. If the H1B petition gets approved when you are outside U.S, then you can return back using the approved petition and a valid H1B visa (you can use the one that is stamped for your previous employer). The only problem is, if the H1B gets approved with a new I-94 when you are outside U.S, then you have to return that I-94 to CBP since you will be getting a new I-94 at the POE when you enter U.S and you are not suppose to have any I-94 when you are outside U.S. This is the reason why it is not advisable to leave the country when a transfer is pending with USCIS.
https://www.immihelp.com/returning-u...4-form-to-cbp/

I was reading some forums and came across few posts which mentioned that if I leave US when the application is not approved and still in process then it means that I have abandoned the application and it gets invalidated, but they were in case of H1 Extension. I wanted to know if this is true and will apply in my case to for H1 Transfer.
>>> It is true and it is for extension. In case of transfer, the petition might get approved with a COS (without a new I-94).

I have Valid H1B visa stamped till 2013.
>>> You can use that to re-enter U.S with the newly approved petition for employer B and start working for them.

[sundareshwarj]

Thank you very much for the response. You made my day..