H1B VISA Extension urgent Query

[soha]

Hi,

My Visa is going to be expired by Nov 3rd. I am going to apply for extension in july. With that, i am planning to take break of one or 2 months. I will leave in august mid and planning to come back again.

My Questions are :

1. Do wee need to be in US till the extension is approved ?. Or its enough to be physically present in USA only during filing.

2. Can i leave the country any time once after filing ?. Will there be any problem in approval of my extesntion when i will be in my country?.

3. Will they check for exit record before extension approval.

I know that i need to get stamp before entering the country again when i come after nov 3rd in my case?. I am confused because there will be 2 copies of I 94's when i enter the country before my visa expire.

Please shade some ideas on my queries based on past cases/experiences.

Thanks,

[raghvi]

What do you mean by " take a break"? If you are in US you need to be working and getting paid. If you are outside US during this "break" then it should not be a problem.

You dont need to be present in US till the extension is approved but it is always advisable to get it approved and then only leave US. In fact if you are planning to return only after 01 Nov 2012 why are you applying for extension and wasting money? Leave in August, get new stamping done and return back after Nov 2012. When you leave US you should return all I-94 that you have at the exit point. When you re-enter US in Nov 2012 or later with the new stamping then you would be given a new I-94 at the POE. So where is the question of 2 I-94s? This is my opinion not legal advice.

[shervin143]

1. Do wee need to be in US till the extension is approved ?. Or its enough to be physically present in USA only during filing.
>>> If you leave the country when the extension of status is pending, the EOS will get denied. You need to be physically present in U.S until the extension gets approved. If you are leaving, then there is no point in filing the extension before you leave.

2. Can i leave the country any time once after filing ?. Will there be any problem in approval of my extesntion when i will be in my country?.
>>> Read the above answer. If you have to leave, then ask the employer to file it when you are outside U.S for consular process.

3. Will they check for exit record before extension approval.
>>> Yes.

I know that i need to get stamp before entering the country again when i come after nov 3rd in my case?. I am confused because there will be 2 copies of I 94's when i enter the country before my visa expire.
>>> When you leave the country return all the I-94s that you have. File the H1B for consular process so it won't come with a new I-94.