Travel When H1b pending Status with Stem Opt Active

[Sridhar Nalla]

Hi ,

Appreciate your help  , Myself made all arrangements to travel to India may 22nd 2018 , I am on Stem OPT which expires in 2020 and iam working in one of the top MNC's ,My employer applied for my H1b application and now it got picked in lottery and the case is still pending till now , My question is can I travel international with H1b in pending status  , I want to return back June 15th 2018 that is before October 1st 2018 ( My H1b Start date ).

When i search online i get some mixed answers saying u can travel before October 1st because i will be still in OPT status until its approved .

please can you help me out in this situation and give me a suggestion what i should do.

Thanks.

[pontevecchio]

If you leave while the H1 petition is being processed, any COS will be nullified and the petition if approved will need a visa first before starting work. If your H1 petition with COS is approved before your trip, you can travel in OPT status and the H1 will kick in on October,1.