M

Hi All,

My previous post was unclear. Here is my situation:
1. I work in the USA on an H1B visa. My H1B has been valid for a year
and I have been working for a year.

2. I wanted to get an H1B stamp on my passport so that if I leave USA
I can get back in without any hassles. I sent in my passport to the
State Department on Sept 25, 2003 in St. Louis to put an H1B visa
stamp on my passport.

3. I am an Indian national.

I have not received my passport back or heard anything from the State
department. I was wondering whether there are others in the same
sitation (i.e, waiting since September). For those knowledgeable about
the process, how long does this take these days?

Thanks

Arrak

J. J. Farrell

"M" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My previous post was unclear. Here is my situation:
    > 1. I work in the USA on an H1B visa. My H1B has been valid for a year
    > and I have been working for a year.
    > 2. I wanted to get an H1B stamp on my passport so that if I leave USA
    > I can get back in without any hassles. I sent in my passport to the
    > State Department on Sept 25, 2003 in St. Louis to put an H1B visa
    > stamp on my passport.
    > 3. I am an Indian national.
    > I have not received my passport back or heard anything from the State
    > department. I was wondering whether there are others in the same
    > sitation (i.e, waiting since September). For those knowledgeable about
    > the process, how long does this take these days?

Are you saying that your passport did not have an H-1B visa in it when
you sent it to St. Louis? If so, it will come back eventually in the
same state. You can only use St. Louis to revalidate a visa - that is,
to get another visa to replace an existing one that is out of date.

From what I've heard, you should be getting it back any time now. You
will have to go to a USA Consulate outside the USA to get a visa in
your passport. You may have to go to India to get it.

Inon

Seems like you are applying for 'Multiple Entry' stamp. Sending it
St.Louis service center is NOT the procedure. You have to leave the
country, get Multiple-Entry approval at US INS office. INS office will
interview you and only upon satisfactory reasons, they will issue the
stamp (label with security prints). Then, you have to re-enter USA.

St.Louis won't give multiple-entry stamp. Since you are waiting since
September, if I were you, I would call or write to St.Louis, or contact a
competent attorney.

Good luck, and please post your experience.

- Inon