Traveling outside of US while H4 EAD application is in In-progress

[nilanjan]

Hello. My I-140 is approved, and my spouse’s H4-EAD application is currently pending. She has a family medical emergency and needs to travel to our home country as soon as possible. I understand that traveling while an EAD application is in progress is generally discouraged, but I’d like to understand the implications in this specific situation.

1. Given the urgent medical situation, is there a way to communicate this emergency to USCIS and potentially mitigate any negative consequences of her travel?

2. My spouse’s H4 visa is valid until 2027, but it is not stamped. Since I will not be traveling with her, does she need to get her visa stamped before returning to the U.S.? Can an H4 dependent apply for a visa stamp on their own, or is H1-B’s presence required?

[Kalpesh_Dalwadi]

@nilanjan

Given the urgent medical situation, is there a way to communicate this emergency to USCIS and potentially mitigate any negative consequences of her travel?

No need, her EAD application should keep processing.

@nilanjan

My spouse’s H4 visa is valid until 2027, but it is not stamped. Since I will not be traveling with her, does she need to get her visa stamped before returning to the U.S.? Can an H4 dependent apply for a visa stamp on their own, or is H1-B’s presence required?

Even if her I-94/I-797 is valid till 2027, she will need a valid visa to enter back. So yes she will need to go for visa stamping for which H1B presence is not required.