More H1 / AP / EAD Discussion

Hi Gurus,

First of all, I apologize if this is not the right thread to post this query. Please move this to the appropriate thread if you feel so. I would appreciate if you could provide some insights here.

My wife and I both have EAD valid till March 9, 2013. Both of us are in training on H1B which is valid till June 30, 2013. My wife's H1B has visa stamp through Hospital/University A and then transferred to Hospital/University B with new petition approved till June 30, 2013, although stamping has not been done since she did not travel out of US.

We are planning to visit India in the second week of October, 2012. Here are my queries:

1. Does she need visa stamping at US Embassy in India in order to re-enter the US on H1-B?

2. Can EAD be used to enter instead and work on H1B? What would be the validity of entry if she enters on EAD? We plan to renew our EAD after coming back which will be sometime in December (with 120 days deadline for renewal).

Thanks for your help.

drsunil - welcome ot forum. I can tell you what I know for sure.
1. She needs H1 stamped if there is no H1 stamped previously at all AND she doesn't have an AP
2. She or You can't enter US on an EAD. You must have a visa or an AP.

What I do not know is - and may be others can answer for you - if she already has H1 stamped and has a visa in her passport - does she really need another stamping after simply transferring visa to another employer. My guess is - she still needs it. But there is a possibility that she can get by on that one.

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Originally Posted by drsunil06

Hi Gurus,

First of all, I apologize if this is not the right thread to post this query. Please move this to the appropriate thread if you feel so. I would appreciate if you could provide some insights here.

My wife and I both have EAD valid till March 9, 2013. Both of us are in training on H1B which is valid till June 30, 2013. My wife's H1B has visa stamp through Hospital/University A and then transferred to Hospital/University B with new petition approved till June 30, 2013, although stamping has not been done since she did not travel out of US.

We are planning to visit India in the second week of October, 2012. Here are my queries:

1. Does she need visa stamping at US Embassy in India in order to re-enter the US on H1-B?

2. Can EAD be used to enter instead and work on H1B? What would be the validity of entry if she enters on EAD? We plan to renew our EAD after coming back which will be sometime in December (with 120 days deadline for renewal).

Thanks for your help.

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Originally Posted by qesehmk

drsunil - welcome ot forum. I can tell you what I know for sure.
1. She needs H1 stamped if there is no H1 stamped previously at all AND she doesn't have an AP
2. She or You can't enter US on an EAD. You must have a visa or an AP.

What I do not know is - and may be others can answer for you - if she already has H1 stamped and has a visa in her passport - does she really need another stamping after simply transferring visa to another employer. My guess is - she still needs it. But there is a possibility that she can get by on that one.

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Q, NO. Second Visa stamp is not required whenever there exists a valid visa stamp of any company(A/B/C) even if you work for company D. Just carrying the latest I-797 approval along with the valid visa stamp is enough.

agreed with Kanmani - no restamping required. Existing stamp along with NEW I797 is required.

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Originally Posted by vishnu

agreed with Kanmani - no restamping required. Existing stamp along with NEW I797 is required.

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And always carry your latest paystubs, just in case.

Also, to expand on what Q mentioned earlier, you need your AP and not EAD to enter the country, but if you enter on the AP, then conventional wisdom is that you are now working on your EAD and your H1B is not really valid. You can find more detail in the EAD/AP threads.

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Originally Posted by Kanmani

Q, NO. Second Visa stamp is not required whenever there exists a valid visa stamp of any company(A/B/C) even if you work for company D. Just carrying the latest I-797 approval along with the valid visa stamp is enough.

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Kanmani,

What you said might be true, but my wife was advised to get the visa stamped, based on the latest I-797 that you carry. The attorney's rationale behind the advice was that with a I-797 from a different company than what is stamped on your passport, you are subjecting your entry to the discretion of the officer at POE. While it may have worked 99% in the past,given the enhanced scrutiny for H1-B visas, it is better to have all your immigration stuff up to date.

After I heard the H1B stamping stories at consulates in India, I chose to use AP..

ChampU,

The law doesn't require a fresh visa stamp for every I-797 we may intend to acquire . Lawyers advice that way because they very well traced the general working knowledge of the officers at POE. Officers are sometimes dumb. My opinion is , even with high scrutiny, the old stamp ( valid on the date of travel even it posses the ex company as sponsor) is good to go.

1. Existing Visa is valid for the duration no matter how many employers you have changed. At the POE they might advise you to get the stamping done the next time ( based on new employer) but it is not mandatory for the duration of your already stamped H1 Visa. Only if you have changed the status (h1 -> h4, h4 -> h1, h1 -> f1 etc) then the Visa gets invalid and you need a stamping for the new status when you come back.

2. You can use AP to re-enter, you would be stamped as 'payrolee'. This means nothing but your status upon re-entry would be 'payrolee' instead of H1B. But you can continue to work for the same H1B for the duration of H1B. If you want to continue on H1, you can also file for an extension of H1b upon its expiry and you will be automatically moved from 'payrolee' status to H1b then. If you don't invoke your EAD and continue to be on H1b as mentioned above, you can always go out of country and come back on AP and the above cycle goes on.

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Originally Posted by Kanmani

ChampU,

The law doesn't require a fresh visa stamp for every I-797 we may intend to acquire . Lawyers advice that way because they very well traced the general working knowledge of the officers at POE. Officers are sometimes dumb. My opinion is , even with high scrutiny, the old stamp ( valid on the date of travel even it posses the ex company as sponsor) is good to go.

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Question is:

Can one keep on working on h1B, eventhough entered on AP?? and use AP always for travel

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Originally Posted by sandeep11

1. Existing Visa is valid for the duration no matter how many employers you have changed. At the POE they might advise you to get the stamping done the next time ( based on new employer) but it is not mandatory for the duration of your already stamped H1 Visa. Only if you have changed the status (h1 -> h4, h4 -> h1, h1 -> f1 etc) then the Visa gets invalid and you need a stamping for the new status when you come back.

2. You can use AP to re-enter, you would be stamped as 'payrolee'. This means nothing but your status upon re-entry would be 'payrolee' instead of H1B. But you can continue to work for the same H1B for the duration of H1B. If you want to continue on H1, you can also file for an extension of H1b upon its expiry and you will be automatically moved from 'payrolee' status to H1b then. If you don't invoke your EAD and continue to be on H1b as mentioned above, you can always go out of country and come back on AP and the above cycle goes on.

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Originally Posted by sportsfan33

Yes. According to my lawyer, this falls into the "Twilight Zone". I asked him the same question yesterday, and in his opinion, we can use the AP for travel and H1B for work.

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That is my understanding too.

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Originally Posted by sportsfan33

Is it not time for the 2013 thread?

How about closing this thread with the conclusions for this year and starting a new one? Or are we still waiting for more information?

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We already have a thread created for 2013 at http://www.qesehmk.org/forums/showth...ulations)-2013

Right now only moderators can post there. So am waiting moderators to take their spots - so that they can update it throughout the year. Yes this thread indeed needs to be closed and concluded. Will do so from my end. But would be good if others do as well.

Yes, you can continue working on H1B even though you have entered on AP.

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Originally Posted by bvsamrat

Question is:

Can one keep on working on h1B, eventhough entered on AP?? and use AP always for travel

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Originally Posted by sandeep11

Yes, you can continue working on H1B even though you have entered on AP.

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I entered using AP last week and checked with two attorney's.They advised me to give an updated I-9 form to the employer and work using EAD. I however did not ask for the reasons and simply followed the advice.

Please check with your attorney.

Dear gurus/friends,
Thanks for your help and advice. We do have valid AP till 03/2013 and valid H1B petition till Juy 2013 although stamped for company A/hosp, not company B that she is working. From the discussion, it seems like one can enter using AP and continue working on H1B. Thanks again for all the help.

Hi Q,

Why do you say that she cannot enter using EAD and she needs visa or AP, when most of us got Combo cards?

My question is on approval,

1. I got Combo cards
2. I 765 approval notice

I did not receive anything specific labelled I 131/AP approval? Am I missing any of the documents?

Thanks,

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Originally Posted by qesehmk

drsunil - welcome ot forum. I can tell you what I know for sure.
1. She needs H1 stamped if there is no H1 stamped previously at all AND she doesn't have an AP
2. She or You can't enter US on an EAD. You must have a visa or an AP.

What I do not know is - and may be others can answer for you - if she already has H1 stamped and has a visa in her passport - does she really need another stamping after simply transferring visa to another employer. My guess is - she still needs it. But there is a possibility that she can get by on that one.

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Originally Posted by hopehope

Hi Q,

Why do you say that she cannot enter using EAD and she needs visa or AP, when most of us got Combo cards?

My question is on approval,

1. I got Combo cards
2. I 765 approval notice

I did not receive anything specific labelled I 131/AP approval? Am I missing any of the documents?

Thanks,

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You're good if you have a combo card. However there are people that have separate EADs and APs. If you hadn't applied for the AP, for instance, you wouldn't have got one. Q was making this distinction between the two. If drsunil's wife only had an EAD and no AP, she couldn't have entered the country.

Guys,
what is the process for EAD extension. Has anyone done yet .

I will come under 120 day window next month . What docs are needed to be supplied . My case is a dependent EAD . Primary already got GC approved.

Thx