jjohn Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 Hi there! Im currently on my F1-OPT(1st one 12 months) and planning to travel to India in march for my marriage. My employer is filing my H1B in April. Is it safe to travel to india in march while we are preparing to file H1B in april ? I have heard that there should be a minimum of 90 days between the port of entry and any adjustment of status change (In my case F1 to H1B)? Please help me out with my query! I'm a full time employee (holding a PhD degree in science field) working in my core research area. Link to comment
pontevecchio Posted February 1, 2019 Report Share Posted February 1, 2019 You can certainly travel in March and return before April,1. If you are out while a H1 petition with COS is being adjudicated, the COS part will be denied though the H1 petition will be approved on its merits and you will then need to return on a H1 visa up to 10 days before starting work . Travel does not influence the adjudication of a H1 petition. Link to comment
jjohn Posted February 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2019 Thanks a lot for your encouraging response. I'm just little worried about this article that I came across recently. Am I missing something here OR Am I over reacting about it? Would appreciate your response! Link to comment
neha jain Posted March 6, 2019 Report Share Posted March 6, 2019 Hi there! Im currently on my F1-OPT(1st one 12 months) and planning to travel to India in april from 29th March to 22nd April. My employer is filing my H1B on 1st April. Is it safe to travel to india in april while we are preparing to file H1B in april ? I have heard that there should be a minimum of 90 days between the port of entry and any adjustment of status change (In my case F1 to H1B)? Please help me out with my query! I'm a full time employee, I need to apply for Opt extension as well in May 2019, incase H1B is not picked out. Below is the response from by Company's lawyer. Please help. It is not that she cannot travel during this period, but rather she should not as it creates issues for her H-1B process. She has the documentation that allows her to travel, but the travel itself will preclude us from pursuing change of status request for her, and it affects her eligibility for cap-gap provisions if she needs them. If she were to travel, she would not be in the U.S. when we file. We therefore could not request a change of status for her as she is not in status in the U.S. at time of filing. If the H-1B were approved, she would need to depart the U.S. again and obtain an H-1B visa from a U.S. consulate before starting employment under H-1B status. Also, the H-1B cap-gap provision only applies if a change of status request is filed. If we cannot do that, and she needs the cap-gap to be able to work beyond her OPT, she would be out of luck. She can look at the bottom of the page provided where it reads: If You Are on OPT & Have a Pending or Approved H1-B or OPT Cap-Gap I-20 Please first check with your employer and the legal counsel processing your H-1B about your travel plans. Berkeley International Office can only advise you an travel as an F-1, but we cannot advise on how your travel might impact a pending or future H-1B request. Students travelling using an OPT Cap-Gap I-20 should see the H1-B Cap Gap page for more information. You can see their info on the cap-gap at https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/students/employment/cap-gap#can-i-travel? She really should not travel during this period as it will open up problems for her H-1B process. Link to comment
Provence Posted March 6, 2019 Report Share Posted March 6, 2019 1 hour ago, neha jain said: Hi there! Im currently on my F1-OPT(1st one 12 months) and planning to travel to India in april from 29th March to 22nd April. My employer is filing my H1B on 1st April. Is it safe to travel to india in april while we are preparing to file H1B in april ? I have heard that there should be a minimum of 90 days between the port of entry and any adjustment of status change (In my case F1 to H1B)? Please help me out with my query! I'm a full time employee, I need to apply for Opt extension as well in May 2019, incase H1B is not picked out. Below is the response from by Company's lawyer. Please help. What do you need help with? The lawyer's statement is quite clear, in fact emphatic, on where they stand on your travel issue. If you have a job lined up in India with no intention to come back to the US, then you're obviously free to travel. Link to comment
pontevecchio Posted March 6, 2019 Report Share Posted March 6, 2019 The issue is the company wants you to keep working till the H1 is approved and after that. You should ask for PP and then travel after approval if you must. What is the urgent need for the travel. ? I did say you need to be back before April,1 if you travel. Link to comment
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