Traveling outside of usa (to India) with passport due for expiration in 4 months.

[Anshul]

I have a valid passport, h1b visa. I am in US right now and looking to travel back to india for personal exigency in January. Here are my key dates:

Passport Validity: May 2017

H1B Visa Validity: Sept 2017

Travel Dates: 12th Jan to 27th Jan 2017.

 

My question is -  will there be any issues with my travel if I travel with this passport as the expiry date is due less than 6 months from the date of entry?

I contacted the embassy here and the third party that takes care of the passport renewals said that it will be a risk for me to push it for renew right now and get it befoew January 1st week because of the year end holiday season.

Looking for expert comments and help on this.

[Anshul]

Looking forward to a response and kind help from the experts.

[rksingh]

You will be OK  travelling into the US with a passport of validity less than 6 months since India is on the list of countries exempted by US from the six-month rule. See the list of countries near the bottom of this CBP page https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/572/kw/travel

HOWEVER, keep in mind that the upon arrival back into US, your I-94 validity will MOST likely be made only up to your passport validity date. If this happens, you will have to take some action to extend it to your H1B validity date.

[kau_ber]

Could you suggest what action i can take to extend the I94 to the H1B validity date?

My case is: I came to India and will be traveling back to USA in a week. My passport is going to expire this April 2017.

I was not able to renew my passport in India for some address proof issues. So, I am planning to renew when I get back to US.

Thanks.

 

[pontevecchio]

1. Inform your employer and see if they will file a new H1 petition for you once the new passport arrives.  OR

2. Renew the passport and then leave and return on the H1 visa.

[rksingh]

There is one other option you can try apart from the 2 options that Pontevecchio has given above. You can appear at a CBP deferred action site and request that they extend your I94 date up to your I797 date. HOWEVER the results of this process are hit-or-miss: Some Deferred Action offices will oblige while others flat out refuse since technically it was never their fault.