I am currently on H1B and my visa will expire on the last day of Sept 2013. My company is planning to apply for an extension. I may have to visit India during Sept for a week. Is it advisable to go to India when my extension is underway, will I face problems at the Port of Entry when coming back? What do you think is the safest period for me to go and come back, would it be in August itself that I finish India work and hit back or Sept is ok and its immaterial as long as I have a valid visa?
I think its better to have your extension approved before travelling to India, especially since you have only less than 4 months left in your validity date. You can get your extension petition filed as Premium case and get the result in 15 days.
I believe if you have only few days/weeks left on your petition validity, you could face many questions at the PoE.
If you leave US while extension is pending, then I-94 extension will be abandoned. You can still return on unexpired visa and current unexpired petition, but will get I-94 valid until current petition expiration date. This means I-94 extension needs to be filed.
Or you can do what Sujith suggested and get PP services on this extension and return w/ extended petition.