H1B Amendment reduced my validity of stay

I have a valid H1B visa with expiration date of Mar 31 2017. And I filed for an amendment due to the change of location. And it got approved with reduced validity of July 31, 2016.

My earlier Visa expiration was March 31, 2017
I-94 is valid till March 31, 2017
Amendment approval notice says July 31, 2016

Can someone please clarify, till what date I can stay. When should I file an extension? and Can I travel to India in this situation?

What duration did your employer requested? If they submitted client/project information, then what’s the end date mentioned for the contract?

I have no idea on the information provided by my employer and i am trying to get it. Regardless - what should be my visa expiry date now? Do i need to follow old petition or my new?

If you are working at new location the follow the new receipt notice. This implies an extension needs to be filed soon.

If you travel outside US, then you need an approved petition for new location which is still valid on your return date. So this can happen either after you have received extension approval; or now (but then you will have to file extension soon after returning to US prior to July 31).

Thanks for the response. It really helps. My employer is keep saying “Always the initial petition validity remains the same even if the amendment validity is less”. Is it something wrong statement?

If you are working at new location, it is governed by new petition and not the old one. If you plan to work at old location, then you have more time in hand.

Did amendment come w/ an I-94 attached? If yes, then what is its expiration date?

I will be working in the new location only. I have the approved petition which has a section called “Detach this Half for Personal records”. It contains I94 # which is different from my old I94. And mentioned the new validity (July 31). Is this the new I94 validity?

Yes, that is the latest I-94 which states allowed duration.

Can you try one more thing. Generate your I-94 online over here - https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/consent.html

See what it shows.

In online I94, it shows with the old date only (Mar 31, 2017). Thats where i am confused.

Yes, this is confusing. They should also not have issued a different I-94# with amendment but used the same I-94#. Maybe an error on part of USCIS.

I would talk to the immigration lawyer (not employer but lawyer) and take their advice, and go w/ it.

Hey Rajesh, What happened to your case ?, im on the same boat and your response would help me.

Thanks

I filed an extension at that time

Even I am in progress of extension and trying to find out the option if it comes negative.

Good question but I didn’t face the situation. So i have no answer for it.

Ok np and thanks for responding!

Hi , did you face any issue on your extension

No - I didn’t face any issues

Hello ,

Did you had to leave US ? can u please exact next steps you had to take.

Thank you

Hi,

No, I did not go to India as I was having a valid visa during the stay. I had filed an extension and it got approved.