Travel to India when my H1 transfer is still pending

[rkavalur]

Hello Immi Experts:

I came to US with my wife and my Son on L1/L2 visas in Feb/2008 through company "A", Last year my Company "A" filed H1 instead of extending my L1 and H1 was approved in Nov/2010. I filed for H1 transfer in May/2011 through Company "B" and USCIS acknowledged my I129 application in 10/Jun/2011 and status is still in Initial Review since then.

At present I am still working for Company "A" waiting for my H1 transfer to approve and after that I will move on to company "B".

Due to my Father's illness, Now I am planning to travel India for 2 weeks.

My questions are:
1. Can I opt for Premium processing now to expediate the transfer process? Will there be any queries as I am opting premium processing after 4 months and will there be any black mark on my H1 transfer?
2. If I get my H1 transfer approved through Premium Process, Can I travel to India with Company "B" H1 visa immediately? Will there be any problems during my Stamping in India as the new H1 from company "B" will be just few weeks old?
3. If I do not use Premium processing for H1 transfer and wait for normal process, Can I travel to India with my Company "A" H1 visa and get that stamped based on "A" H1 visa in India and come back? is this a possibility when the transfer is in progress?
4. Based on above suggestions from you on questions 2 and 3, Can I travel alone to India wherein my wife and my son stay in US? After I come back I will have latest visa status and my wife and my son will have old visa status, is this Okay? or you suggest to travel together with family?
5. What if H1 transfer from Company "B" gets approved during my visit to India? Will there be any problem during my stamping in India?

Please help me!

[shervin143]

1. Can I opt for Premium processing now to expediate the transfer process? Will there be any queries as I am opting premium processing after 4 months and will there be any black mark on my H1 transfer?
>>> NO issues, You can do that.

2. If I get my H1 transfer approved through Premium Process, Can I travel to India with Company "B" H1 visa immediately? Will there be any problems during my Stamping in India as the new H1 from company "B" will be just few weeks old?
>>> No issues.

3. If I do not use Premium processing for H1 transfer and wait for normal process, Can I travel to India with my Company "A" H1 visa and get that stamped based on "A" H1 visa in India and come back? is this a possibility when the transfer is in progress?
>>> It is never advisable to travel when a petition is pending with USCIS. The transfer might get denied. But if you are not worroed about that, then you can travel and get the visa stamped based on Company A's petition and return back to work for Company A.

4. Based on above suggestions from you on questions 2 and 3, Can I travel alone to India wherein my wife and my son stay in US? After I come back I will have latest visa status and my wife and my son will have old visa status, is this Okay? or you suggest to travel together with family?
>>> That is okak only if your travel is very short. Longer stay outside U.S by the primary applicants without the dependents are not permitted.

5. What if H1 transfer from Company "B" gets approved during my visit to India? Will there be any problem during my stamping in India?
>>> No issues with the stamping, but there will be unnecessary I-94 issues. That is why it is never advisable to travel when a petition is pending. Search and read about posts that talks about this issue.

[kabkaba]

Actually in this case B's petition will not get denied even if you travel. Only the extension of status part of the petition may get denied. If that happens while you are outside the US, all you have to do is get an H1 Visa based on B's petition (approved without extension of status) and travel with it to work for B.
If there is no decision while you are outside the US and if B's petition gets approved without extension of status after you arrive back (showing A's petition), then B's will have to amend their petition to get extension of status before you can start working for B.

[rkavalur]

Thanks for your answers.

I just checked with my attorney and here is what she says,

"I called USCIS last week about your case and they said we should have a decision by the end of today. I will follow up with them tomorrow if I don’t hear anything today."

So I will wait for today and tomorrow to get a decision on my transfer.