Married US Citizen - Have a question as i am currently on H1B and need to travel to India in January?

[deep0129]

All,

I married my wife(US Citizen) in July of 2011 while i am still under H1B, my H1B visa runs till end of 2012 before it expires. I have not filed for my GC though my wife as of yet and I found out a week ago that due to family commitments i need to travel to India in Mid-January.

I have a problem, my current stamp on my passport expired in Sep 30, 2009 but i do have a valid updated I-797 that expires in Dec 2012. So in lieu of the above information, i have some questions.

1) How do i(or my wife) go about filing for my green card? I am already here.. so i guess i do not have an immigrant visa.

2) Since i heard it takes 5-6 months to receive

my Green Card. How is it possible for me to travel to India without any issues in January?

3) Will i get any receipt that i can show that my GC is under process? If no, will have to update my H1B visa stamp in India? I understand that there is always a risk when i do that.

Please help me. I am unsure what the next steps are or whether it is even feasible for me travel to India in January since my stamp is expired.