Can i travel from India to USA with Receipt number and RFE ?

USA H1B Visa
1

My Situation,

Have visa stamped until Jan 2018, but not from the previous employer but the one before that.Currently situated in India.Was in the US for 2 years on valid H1B.Currently, H1B petition in premium processing was done and is now in RFE status.Have copies of LCA, Previous i797 from 3 employers, current H1B receipt number.Offer letter from new employer, not from the client though.QuestionsCan I travel to the US with the above documentation, enter POE ?Since, my visa stamped on valid passport is not from previous employer but from the one before that, Is consulate visit required for my current H1B petition on approval ?What if the petition from my previous employer and one before that ( my visa stamp is from this employer ) were revoked ? Is the visa stamped valid as date of expiry is in 2018 ?

2

  1. You need to have approved H1 petition for your current employer to travel, just valid visa stamp on passport is not good enough.

  2. No need of stamping. You can use the approved petition (I-797) of your current employer and travel on your old employer visa stamp. But you need to mandatorily have new I-797 from current employer along with old visa to enter.

  3. Just a valid visa does no good. You cannot travel without a valid I-797 from your current employers petition. You need to have an approved I-797 for the job that you will be working in USA at all times.

Visa is just to enter USA, but I-797 is what gives you a legal status to stay in USA. So, without a valid I-797 you will be living illegal here. Even if your visa stamp expires and you have a valid I-797 you can legally stay in USA ( visa is just to gain entry) but having a valid visa and expired I-797 makes your stay illegal.

3

@ramanan256, what are your thoughts about AC21 provisions. My attorney has suggested me to travel on that basis. Please see Travelling while an H-1B Petition is Pending at USCIS - usavisanow.com - Immigration Law Office of Eran Regev, Esq., section on Travel While a Petition is Pending for a Change of H-1B Employer.

4

I would not recommend that, as there will be lots of questions and scrutiny at POE. You will be travelling at your own risk, and coupled with, that you don’t have a client letter too. Is your previous I-797 still valid ?

Your petition is under premium processing, just wait for the 15 day window to be completed, after USCIS receives your RFE documents.

5

My previous i797 dates are valid, but they might have revoked the petition. The need for my travel during RFE happens because, there are two levels of clients, We have client letter as SOW from the first level client, but he is not ready to supply the client letter from the second level client. This is asked by USCIS ( they have the SOW which is a client letter) . The second level client is saying, that they could supply that letter after the person has come in for working. Please advice.

Hence one way is go there in person, and on the first day this document will be supplied to USCIS.

6

Hi I am in same situation. could you please help me?
I have valid visa stamped till 26 Oct and My H1B amendment (for change of Role) is in pending RFE with same client and same employer. I need to travel to India on a family emergency . Can I travel to India for 2 weeks?

7

Seeking how to move to that country of your choice? Why wait?Contact me now at nestphilip312@gmail.com for swift arrangements of all you’ll be needing, be it visa,hotel arrangements etc.