Important -Travel without AP

[vik352]

My wife is not H4, she is working on EAD and we applied her I-485 last July. She has to travel to India for an emegency. We applied for AP last month, have the receipt but it is not approved. Is it okay if she travels to India without AP approval? I will be here and I can take her approved AP when I go there after two months.

I heard that if she travels without AP, her I-485 is considered abonded. Is this true? Can we apply for her H4 (as I am still on H1). Any advice on how to get her back?

Thanks!

[vik352]

Anyone?

[jonty_11]

I cannot comment specifically to ur case...but when me n my spouse travelled on AP...going to India - no one looked at AP...we just turned in our I94 to the airline....

I think the relevance of AP is only when you re-enter US, hopefully by that time u already have AP in hand for urself and her.

[maddipati1]

there are lot of threads abt this topic. search it.

read form I-131 instructions, where it clearly says, AP appl. is considered abandoned if you leave US before its approval. this is for sure.




My wife is not H4, she is working on EAD and we applied her I-485 last July. She has to travel to India for an emegency. We applied for AP last month, have the receipt but it is not approved. Is it okay if she travels to India without AP approval? I will be here and I can take her approved AP when I go there after two months.

I heard that if she travels without AP, her I-485 is considered abonded. Is this true? Can we apply for her H4 (as I am still on H1). Any advice on how to get her back?

Thanks!

[flipflop]

there are lot of threads abt this topic. search it.

read form I-131 instructions, where it clearly says, AP appl. is considered abandoned if you leave US before its approval. this is for sure.

How about a case where AP renewal is pending and previously approved AP has not expired?

Can you go out of US and come back before previous AP expires?

What happens when you are out of US on previous AP and "AP renewal" is approved? Is that considered abandoning I-485?

Thanks and appreciate any replies.

[Marphad]

My wife is not H4, she is working on EAD and we applied her I-485 last July. She has to travel to India for an emegency. We applied for AP last month, have the receipt but it is not approved. Is it okay if she travels to India without AP approval? I will be here and I can take her approved AP when I go there after two months.

I heard that if she travels without AP, her I-485 is considered abonded. Is this true? Can we apply for her H4 (as I am still on H1). Any advice on how to get her back?

Thanks!

I think you should not take this risk. Once you leave the country without AP, the application is considered as revoked as per my reading somewhere. I am trying to find link.

[ItIsNotFunny]

I think you should not take this risk. Once you leave the country without AP, the application is considered as revoked as per my reading somewhere. I am trying to find link.

I would like to see lawyer's opinion on this.

[siddar]

Candidate should be physically present in USA, on the date of AP approval. Otherwise, that AP is not valid. When the candidate try to enter US, the IO will verify this information and may permit accordingly.
I-485 application considers abandoned, if a candidate leaves US without any valid Visa to re-enter. Remember, H1 / H4 cannot be stamped after I-485 approval.

I'm a layman like you, please consult an attorney.

[laksmi]

My wife is not H4, she is working on EAD and we applied her I-485 last July. She has to travel to India for an emegency. We applied for AP last month, have the receipt but it is not approved. Is it okay if she travels to India without AP approval? I will be here and I can take her approved AP when I go there after two months.

I heard that if she travels without AP, her I-485 is considered abonded. Is this true? Can we apply for her H4 (as I am still on H1). Any advice on how to get her back?

Thanks!

If your wife is having H4 visa on her passport and visa is still valid, she can use H4 itself to move in and out of country, no need of AP.

[vik352]

Her H4 is not valid. She did travel to India without an approved AP.

Can we cancel her GC application and bring her back on H4?

Any other options?

[aamchimumbai]

Vik352,

I am in the same situation as yours. I am assuming that this is your first AP application and not renewal, right?

In my case, I am on H1 and my wife is on H4. For both, visa is NOT stamped in our passports. We received a letter from NSC saying that both our AP applications were approved on 10/21/08. I received my approved AP application but we never received hers. We followed up with the NSC and local USCIS office both confirmed that our application were approved. Therefore, she left US to visit India on 11/15/08. Two days later after her departure we received RFE on photos. Weird. Anyways. We did respond her RFE few days ago.

But now the question is can she return with her approved AP, which may have a later date than her departure OR we need to go for H1/H4 stamping. I am not sure what will happen at the POE when we show up with our APs.

Anyone in similar situation?

Thanks.




My wife is not H4, she is working on EAD and we applied her I-485 last July. She has to travel to India for an emegency. We applied for AP last month, have the receipt but it is not approved. Is it okay if she travels to India without AP approval? I will be here and I can take her approved AP when I go there after two months.

I heard that if she travels without AP, her I-485 is considered abonded. Is this true? Can we apply for her H4 (as I am still on H1). Any advice on how to get her back?

Thanks!

[nlssubbu]

Her H4 is not valid. She did travel to India without an approved AP.

Can we cancel her GC application and bring her back on H4?

Any other options?

Why don't you take info pass and explain the need for an emergency visit and get an interim AP?

Thanks

[javadeveloper]

We received a letter from NSC saying that both our AP applications were approved on 10/21/08.

Keep this proof while traveling , you can try to convince IO that you went outside US by assuming that the AP is approved.Thats the best you can do

[ashkam]

Her H4 is not valid. She did travel to India without an approved AP.

Can we cancel her GC application and bring her back on H4?

Any other options?

According to my attorney, if you are in valid H1 status, your wife can get her H4 stamped, reenter on an H4 and still maintain her GC application. Once she comes back, she can go back to work on her EAD and transition into I-485 pending status.

[vik352]

Thanks ashkam. I am still on H1, this is exactly what I needed to hear. I will confirm this with my attorney too. Thanks again!

According to my attorney, if you are in valid H1 status, your wife can get her H4 stamped, reenter on an H4 and still maintain her GC application. Once she comes back, she can go back to work on her EAD and transition into I-485 pending status.

[new_horizon]

I have a couple of questions:
1. In the AP application form, there is a question on when you intend to travel. What should I enter there when I am only applying for some future travel and am not sure about the dates?
2. I had worked on OPT after my graduation before switching to H1 visa. So when I apply for EAD now, should I apply as a renewal applicant or a new applicant? Is OPT the same as EAD?

thanks.

[kshitijnt]

I have a couple of questions:
1. In the AP application form, there is a question on when you intend to travel. What should I enter there when I am only applying for some future travel and am not sure about the dates?
2. I had worked on OPT after my graduation before switching to H1 visa. So when I apply for EAD now, should I apply as a renewal applicant or a new applicant? Is OPT the same as EAD?

thanks.

1. Write unknown
2. New applicant, if you are applying under c09 category for the first time.

[a_yaja]

I have a couple of questions:
1. In the AP application form, there is a question on when you intend to travel. What should I enter there when I am only applying for some future travel and am not sure about the dates?
2. I had worked on OPT after my graduation before switching to H1 visa. So when I apply for EAD now, should I apply as a renewal applicant or a new applicant? Is OPT the same as EAD?

thanks.

I mentioned the following:
"Need to visit family in home country from time to time given the long adjudication process for I-485"

For date of travel, I put down a date approximately one month from the date of application (my thinking was that if travel date was sufficiently near, then the AP would be approved sooner - and I did get my AP approved in 22 days - not sure if it was because of the travel date - but it might have helped).