If you have changed your non-immigrant status to H-1B while in the United States and have never had an H-1B visa stamp in your passport, or if your H-1B visa stamp has expired and you wish to travel outside the country, you must apply with a U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your home country in order to obtain an H-1B visa for re-entry. However, if you would like to pursue “third-country” visa issuance by traveling to Canada or Mexico and securing the H-1B visa for re-entry into the U.S. We URGE you to contact the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Canada or Mexico to inquire about your eligibility to apply for the H-1B visa and check if you need to apply for the Canadian or Mexican tourist visa prior to any travel arrangement
Upon your departure of the U.S., make sure to surrender your current I-94 form to the immigration officer at the airport to officially notify the U.S. immigration of your departure from the U.S.

After you receive the I-797 APPROVAL notice, you may schedule an appointment with the consulate for an interview and present the following documentation:

·  original Form I-797A (H-1B Approval Notice for your current position)

·  letter of employment verification from HR to reflect on your fulltime employment status, salary and that you are expected to return to the U.S. to resume the terms of your contract

·  original waiver of the two year home residency requirement (if you were previously in J- 1 visa status and received a waiver)

·  valid passport (recommended 3 years after the expected date of arrival to the U.S)

·  Form DS-160 (available at Embassy/Consulate)

We also recommend you to have a copy of Form ETA-9035 Labor Conditions Application (LCA) and a copy of Form 1-129 (petition for H1B submitted to USCIS on your behalf) just in case more info is needed.


Upon arrival to the United States, it is critical to ensure that your I-94 (arrival/departure) card is issued with the accurate spelling of your name, your correct date of birth and that the expiration date written on the I-94 matches the expiration date listed on your I-797 approval notice. So review your new I-94 carefully and if there is any error, you should immediately contact a U.S. Customs & Border Protection officer (CBP) at the airport or port-of-entry to request correction of the error.

As any error on the I-94 card has significant severe implications on your H-1B status, we URGE you to contact Ms. Lisa Owen at upon return from your travel if you discover any error on your new I-94 card.
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Office of International Programs Phone - 270-745-6398
1906 College Heights Blvd, WAB 153

Bowling Green, KY 42101 www.wku.edu/oip

Created: 11/11/11

THE LAST ACTION RULE

Upon re-entry into the U.S. after traveling abroad you will be issued a new I-94 card at the port of entry. It is possible for U.S. Customs & Border Protection to enter a new and/ or different date from your previous I-94 card and previously approved I-797. In these cases the “last action rule” applies, the last in time issued I-94 date will prevail over any previously issued I-94 or I-797 dates. This can affect your H-1B status and require WKU to file a re-newed H-1B petition earlier than anticipated. It is important that when you come back from traveling abroad you bring your new I-94 card to the Office of International programs so that our office can update your file with the most current date on your I-94 card.

As you may know, United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is authorized to admit a foreign national into the U.S. only through the duration of his or her passport validity, rather than the duration of the visa or approval notice, even if the passport expires during the individual's otherwise authorized period of stay in the U.S. It has come to our attention that CBP is enforcing this policy much more regularly than in the past.

The potential implications of this policy are significant and can be quite severe. For example, while an individual's H-1B visa approval notice may authorize H-1B status for up to three years, if the person's passport is valid for only 8 months, he or she might be admitted for only 8 months upon entering the U.S. (i.e. the I-94 card will have an end date which matches the passport expiration date). In turn, after those 8 months pass, if the foreign national has not since left the U.S. and reentered with a new passport or extended or changed status, he or she will fall out of status and will begin to accrue "unlawful presence." Once a person falls out of status, the ability to get him or her back into status without first departing the U.S. can be very difficult, if not impossible.


If the CBP officer writes an earlier date on the I-94 card, your visa status will expire on that earlier date even if your other H-1B materials specify a later date. Please contact the Office of International Programs immediately upon return of your travel abroad if you are not admitted for the validity date of your non-immigrant visa status as listed on your most recently issued I-797.

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Office of International Programs Phone - 270-745-6398
1906 College Heights Blvd, WAB 153 www.wku.edu/oip

Bowling Green, KY 42101

Created: 11/11/2011

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