Travel India While AOS pending

[Manu G]

I am here in US on L1A visa and my wife is on L2 visa. Our Green card process (I-485) is in progress and we both have GC-EAD and AP. My wife recently started work using her GC EAD. However I am still using my L1A visa for work purpose, which is valid for another year or so. I have not switched to EAD.

We are planning to travel India some time this year. Since the current visa in our passports are expired, We will be doing the stamping also there. 

Would like to know whether we need to use L1A/L2 visa OR GC-AP Card to re-enter us while returning? We will be travelling together. My wife uses EAD currently for the work, but I am using my primary L1A visa.

 

 

 

[immijam]

On 3/18/2019 at 5:21 PM, Manu G said:

I am here in US on L1A visa and my wife is on L2 visa. Our Green card process (I-485) is in progress and we both have GC-EAD and AP. My wife recently started work using her GC EAD. However I am still using my L1A visa for work purpose, which is valid for another year or so. I have not switched to EAD.

We are planning to travel India some time this year. Since the current visa in our passports are expired, We will be doing the stamping also there. 

Would like to know whether we need to use L1A/L2 visa OR GC-AP Card to re-enter us while returning? We will be travelling together. My wife uses EAD currently for the work, but I am using my primary L1A visa.

 

 

 

I have the same situation but with H1 (I have a 3 yr recent visa stamped too). I think I am going to use the AP/EAD in which case the H1 status is lost. 

The reason I am going to take that route as because of the flexibility AP/EAD offers rather than being trapped in L1/H1 status especially given current times (audits/site visits/etc), plus AP is specifically issued for that purpose. i.e. to travel while AOS is pending and not abandoned. So why not use the more flexible /convenient feature. 

 

Ps: Only if you feel you have a good possibility of I-485 denial you should consider preserving the L1 just so you don't have to immediately depart. 

[LuvTracker]

I agree with immijam's response - just use your EAD/AP while you can. When I was on H1, I traveled with EAD/AP all the time so I didn't have to go through the hassle of getting my visa stamped in my passport. Since you're on a L1 visa, I'm not sure if you can do the same thing I did while I was on H1. But please check with an attorney.