Hello
My 2nd term of H1B is approved till Sep 2015. But my passport is expiring on Aug 2014. I have recently booked and appointment for visa stamping in Ottawa end of Feb 2013. Can i go for the visa stamping? Is it safe? Till when will i be getting the stamp?
In the visa interview confirmation email it says:
“A passport valid for travel to the United States and valid for at least 6 months beyond the applicant’s intended period of stay in the United States unless country specific agreements provide exceptions. Consult http://www.state.gov/documents/organization…for exemptions. If more than one person is included in the passport, each person desiring a visa must make an application.”
Please help. I am confused now if i should really go for the interview.
Thanks
If the passport is expiring in Aug 2014, it should not impact your stamping in Feb 2013.
Hi Saurabh
Thanks for the reply.
But the email sent by them for the interview confirmation is really confusing.
What exactly do they mean by this?
“A passport valid for travel to the United States and valid for at least 6 months beyond the applicant’s intended period of stay in the United States unless country specific agreements provide exceptions. Consult http://www.state.gov/documents/organization...for exemptions. If more than one person is included in the passport, each person desiring a visa must make an application.”
What will happen in this case is that you will get visa stamped as the same duration as your petition i.e. until Sep 2015. When you enter US, you will be issued I-94 valid until your passport expiration date i.e. Aug 2014.
To get I-94 extended, you will have to first get the passport extended and then apply for I-94 extension.
The statement you quoted above says to get I-94 for the entire duration, it is better to have passport valid for at least 6 months longer than intended period of stay.
Does that clarify?
Yes it does now. Thanks a lot Saurabh.
I wonder why this kind of requirement didn’t show up when my friends recently went to India for stamping. They were in the same shoes like me. Passport expiring before I797.
Ask them about their I-94. They should have received I-94s valid until passport expiration date unless the PoE officer overlooked the expiration date.