Hi,
My Current L1b visa expires Oct-18-2013. My employer has started GC process. My PERM has been approved and my I-140 is going to be started the week of June-03-2013.
I am planning to visit India between August 12th and 30th and schedule my Visa interview around the same time. However the Immigration attorney is asking me to hold on filling my DS-160, until End of July, because of the 'yes' or 'no' answer to the below quesiton in the DS-160 form. Attorney feels that the status may change any time.
Under Section "Previous U.S Travel Information:"
Question is: Has anyone ever filed an immigrant petition on your behalf with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services?
My quesiton is,
Can I fill the DS-160 form today with 'NO' as the answer for the above quesiton and book a visa interview date. And can I change the answer to 'Yes' if and when the I-140 status changes later before I attend the interview.
Appreciate any reply or comments.
Thanks and Regards,
Karsh
Once submitted you can not change the answer to Ds 160 question. You can make separate ds160 form by following the procedure.
But if yr answer is yes to- filing of Immigrant visa petition , you will get 221G.
Obtain advance parole before coming to India
I dare say that yr attorney is only partially right.Without parole you are creating probl;ems for yourself
Thanks for the reply. May I know what advance parole is ?
H and L cat visas are Nonimmigrant visas.The moment an immigrant petition is filed for you , you become inilligible for nonimmigrant visa as your immigrant intentions are officially declared. To permit a immigrant visa applicant to go out of America and legally return to USA during the pendency of his immigrant application , advance parole is issued.
I think that parole is a logical subsequent step to receipt of I 140 application. But Government like everything else in the world takes some minimum time for that. I am not very sure about time gap between filing of I 140 and granting of parole. Discuss the matter with your attorney
Thanks.
My attoryney has filed for my I-140 on July 8th. Based on that i have answered ‘YES’ to the question mentioned in my original post and booked Visa interview dates of Aug 26th and 27th.
I discussed the advance parole with my attornety and the below is what she has to say
"As to the advance parole, this is only available where the applicant has filed form I-485, Application to Adjust/Register Status. You are not eligible to file this form as you are subject to the current visa priority date backlog for Indian nationals. Your priority date is January 4, 2013. They Department of State is currently processing cases with a priority date of September 1, 2004. "
I am not sure whether the VO will put my case on Pending or 221g or reject. Just worried thinking about it.
Any comments is apprecieated.
kind Regards, Karsh
Dear Karsh,
I am stationed in India and generally do not comment about matters in USA about which I do not have adequate knowledge.
However I understand that I 140 and I 485 can be filed concurrently.That it takes between 1 to 3 months to get advance parole.
However I repeat that my knowledge about matters in USA is poor. You should consult knowledgable persons about this.
If yr attorney says that I 485 can not be filed for you discuss if there is any other option or consult another attorney if possible.
One last query - Do you have a stamped visa valid till oct 2013?
If yes why go for visa stamping in India ?
Hi, I have a valid L1b visa till Oct 2013. However my company had filed for my H1b petition and approved. So I am required to go to India to stamp my H1b.
What happens if you do not come to India?
There are so many persons who remain in USA without stamping on I 797 only.
Also I think that you have an option of explaing the case to yr employer that after filing I 140 you can get stuck in India. Consulate can keep yr passport with them , issue you 221G and cancel yr L1 visa.
Why take that risk?
So are you saying that even after my L1b expires in October 2013, I can stay in the USA on my H1b I797 ? Won’t I be out of status? since I have only my H1b petition approved!
Approved petition is good enough.
Do not come to India.
If possible Change your Attorney.
Hi, My I-140 got approved today and I am going for my H1b visa interview date is aug 26/27th. What do i do now ?
Please advise.
I do not know why you are coming to India.you may get a visa if you come across kind VO. otherwise you can get 221g or even 214 b.What does your Attorney say about getting Nonimmigrant visa while immigrant petition is approved. Discuss the matter with Attorney as well as yr employer.
H and L are dual intent visas. This allows the person to travel to US on these visas and have immigrant petitions filed for them. F, B etc are purely non-immigrant visas.
Lot of people on H-1 travel outside US, get visas stamped even when their immigrant petition has been filed and approved. EB-3 PD is 2003. So there are thousands of Indians w/o AP, on H-1B visa.
If your H-1 was approved w/ COS, then you can start working in US on H-1 from Oct 1 even w/o getting the visa stamped. If COS was not approved, then you do need H-1 visa stamp or file a separate COS. Do you have specific reason to travel to India during this period?
Dear Saurabh , Thanks for yr comments. Let us wait and watch.If you feel it is ok , fine.All the cases that I had seen were with advance parole.
Even without , I 140, there is a risk of 221 G for H1 applicant in India. with I140 the risk increases
I have personal experience of H-1 visa stamping w/ approved I-140. Lot of my friends are in similar situation, and so I am confident about it 
Fine. then looks quite ok
Thank You for the input. I guess I have to wait and see. I will definitely keep you updated on my process. Thanks.
Hi Guys. My H1b intervew was on 8/26 and 8/27, OFC and interview respectively in Chennai US Consulate I received my H1b stamping without a problem. I was asked just 2 questions, about my current salary and how long I have been working for my company. They did not even ask about my I-140.
Thank You so much for all the input and suggestions.
Dear All,
Thank you for clearing my misconceptions. I am happy to know about your getting visa.