Will I-140 put future visitor visa at risk?

[aidmw]

Hello,

My H1-B visa expires on Sep 30, 2010. This is after one extension so I have been in H1 status for 6 years.

I received Labor Certification in March 2010. My company has asked me to apply for I-140 so that I can stay in the US beyond Sep 2010.

However, for personal reasons, I do plan to leave the US in January 2011.

Should I apply for the I-140? Suppose I leave the US in January 2011 and apply for a visitor visa after 2 years. Will my application be rejected on the basis of a prior I-140 application?

Instead, would it be better for me to just leave the US in Sep 2010 without applying for I-140?

Thanks!

[maxi]

GC is for future employment. You can apply for I 140. You dont have to be in the US for this. Maybe when you do decide to come back, you might already have your EAD/GC for you in which case you don't have to go on a H1B visa again.

Hope this helps.

[aidmw]

Hi maxi,

I should have been clearer in my post. I plan to leave the US permanently in January 2011 and will cancel my I-140 application at that time.

However, if an I-140 application will harm the chances of getting a US visitor visa in future, I might decide to not even apply for I-140 and instead leave the US in September 2010.

Any thoughts on whether or not I should do that?

Thanks.

[maxi]

Personally I think it will. It might be difficult to get visitor visa depending on your interview with the visa officer at that time. I know a few people whose visitor's visa was denied because they had GC processing going on at the same time and visitor visa is a non immigrant visa.

You can however apply for H1b as that a dual intent visa.