I applied for a H1b visa along witih COS while working on OPT in America. I finally got approval a couple of weeks ago and want to travel outside of the US to visit my home country on vacation and then come back to the US. I am aware that I will have to go to the embassy to get an actual visa/stamping in my home country in order to reenter the US. Could someone walk me through the procedure? All I know is that I need to make an interview appointment and bring all the documents to the US embassy. Someone told me I will have to fill out I-824 to ask USCIS to send approval notice to the embassy in my home country, is it true?? I already bought my ticket and don’t want to remain only in the US just so I don’t take any risks… Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Which country will you be going to for visa stamping? The stamping process varies from country to country.
For stamping you need documents including:
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your documents: resume, experience letters, degrees, marksheets, payslips, W-2, OPT card, passport
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H-1 documents: copy of LCA, copy of I-129, 797, letter from employer to USCIS
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employer and job documents: client/project details, SOW, MSA (if working for a client), employer tax returns, wage reports (especially if the employer is a small one)
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etc
Thank you for the answer! I got a copy of the documents that my lawyer submitted to USCIS. Among those documents are employer tax returns, wage reports, etc. so I’m taking them with me. Does it matter that they are not the original copy?
It is ok if they are not original copies. Employer will not (or rather never) give the original tax returns to you. They are theirs to keep for their records.