accidentally washed passport with H1B visa in it

[aditya2178]

Hello,
My passport was accidentally washed. it had a valid H1B visa on it(which I received in Jan this year) which also got washed and now the photo on the visa is not that clear. The entire visa has faded a little bit. I do not have time to get a new passport issued as I am flying to India in a couple of days. Will I have to re-apply for H1B stamping? Do I have to go through the same stamping process as I did to get my H1B visa stamped the first time. Please help. I am worried that I might be able to get back to the states. What are the next steps? I am very wary of the stamping process and even though my stamping in Jan went quite smoothly, it was a very stressful experience that I would gladly avoid if possible. should I risk trying to get back to the states on the same passport and visa?

[txh1b]

You better apply for a replacement passport before you travel. The service is much faster in US. Your entire travel plans could be jeopardized if there is any damage to the passport as they will not issue you a boarding pass or let you borad the airport.

Moreover, the US consulate may refuse to stamp H1b on the damanged passport.

[pablogil]

washed passport

Hi, i have an F1 visa, the same thing happened to me. What did you do?, did you have to go to your home country to get the new visa?

thanks

[kabkaba]

You have to get a new passport immediately. If your I-94 is also damaged, you will need to apply for duplicate I-94. After that whenever you leave the US you will need to obtain Visa like before.