H4 extension pending and travelling outside of the country

[NitinTampa]

Hi,

I am on H1B with an approved petition till Dec 2023 but my dependent’s i539 is still pending.

I have read several QnAs on forums and I know that H4 can travel outside the country when i539 is pending and get the stamping done based off of i797 approval of the primary H1B applicant.

Are there any official sources from USCIS, US Travel docs that I can quote on this (a document checklist from their website may be)?
Also has USCIS mandated to invalidate the pending application when travelling outside of the country? Are there any downsides to not doing it, other than the potential i94 mismatch? Are there any restriction that the stamping (in India) can happen only once the pending i539 application has been invalidated?

Thanks for the response in advance

[JoeF]

The official source is the law.

An I-539 is a change/extension of status. And a person by definition and law only has a status while in the US. If a person travels abroad an I-539 will get denied because the person does not have a valid status in the US to change/extend.

Stamping is getting a visa, which is completely different from changing status. Department of State handles visas. COS is handled by USCIS.

Why haven't you asked your lawyer about this? Every immigration lawyer knows it.

Edited August 29, 2021 by JoeF