H1B approved while on H4-EAD - I94 update, Travel out of US

USA H4 Visa
1

Hello,

My wife has been working on H4-EAD and she just got her H1B approval notice as well.

  1. Since there is an I-94 in the H1B approval notice, does it mean her status has changed from H4 to H1B with immediate effect?
  2. Her H4 visa in the passport is valid till June 2020, but if H1B is valid with immediate effect, does she need a visa stamping if we travel out of country?

Appreciate any quick inputs.

Thanks,
Shridhar

2
  1. Yes, if it was filed as COS and has I-94, then immediately she is on H1B now.
  2. The visa stamp is only for entering US, it is not relevant when you are in US…You need to maintain status and I-94 is the one that defines that.

If she needs to re-enter US on H1B, she would need H1B visa stamping to be done.

3

Thanks Kumar. Appreciate the response.

We had booked for a cruise assuming her H1B wasn’t picked in lottery. Does she need a visa stamping to go on a cruise to Mexico from US and back? I read in few posts that the immigration on the way back on the cruise don’t issue new I94, is that true? Is cruise travel different than normal travel out of the US?

Thanks
Shridhar

4

If you are using the Automatic Visa Re-validation and not going for stamping, then that is an option. Check more on State.gov
I suggest you discuss with your H1B attorney once as well and then take a call on the travel and stamping.

5

Just to close the thread (and probably that it might be useful for others), we didn’t get a new I94 or any arrival/departure stamps on the passport before boarding or after returning from the cruise. The CBP officer just checked the visa validity on the passport and let us in. I asked the officer and he said, since cruise is a “close circuit” travel, there is no change to the I94 or the status.

1 Like
6

That’s great to hear. Thanks for sharing !

7

One question, Is she on H1B now or H4 ? They probably look at H4 stamp right ? What happened to the H1B ?