H1B Visa expired ! Can I travel after filing I-485

[Chinar]

Hi All,

I have seen some posts around this but my situation is a bit different. My HiB visa expired in 2005 and I have seen been on yearly extensions since. Have booked my tickets to India for August 6 and have a visa appointment in India
on August 9. Is it advisable to travel when I have not received the receipt notice and apply for a visa.

Any advice or personal experience your can share would be much appreciated.

Regards.

[baluraj]

If you have applied for advance parole and obtained it, you can travel with advance parole, the visa is not required. If you have not received the advance parole, a valid visa is required. Last year I went for h1 stamping to india, beyond my 6 year h1 extension, the visa officier asked me about the green card, I produced the copy of approved I-140, and I got the visa stamped. It is advisable to keep the all the copy of the tax records, for the years you stayed in USA.

[Chinar]

Thanks Baluraj. I do not have AP yet and my I-140 is not approved yet either. I only have the I-140 receipt notice. From your experience it looks like Visa officer might ask for this information and may cause a problem.

Regards.