Petal55

Hi all, just wondering if anyone had experience in the following situation. We are currently in the process of L1/L2 application (my husband being L1). We have submitted DS-160 and are ready to start trying to get an embassy appointment when we were told if would be helpful for my husband to renew his passport now (he has 18 months left before expiry) in order to avoid the visa being granted only for the period left on the passport before expiry. I understand it would be possible to renew passport and then submit a new DS-160 with new passport details but as I’m sure many others do as well at the moment, we are on a deadline to get to USA due to my husband’s work and keen to avoid the delay of not booking our interview while awaiting new passport. I’ve been made aware it would be possible to keep our current DS-160 (with current passport details), renew the passport while awaiting interview and take both old and new passports to the appointment and explain the situation and use the new passport for the visa. Just wondering if anyone had any experience in this situation? Thanks in advance

destone

My understanding is that the visa validity has nothing to do with the passport validity. When the passport with the visa in it expires you can travel with that and the new passport without any problems.

Petal55

Thanks for your reply, it was advice from our lawyer that the passport needs to be renewd now so we’ll have to follow it but hence was wondering how it works at the embassy side.

shiversaint

You can travel with an old passport with a valid visa in, this is well trodden ground.

Regardless I think it's still more convenient to renew if it's possible to do, one less document to worry about.

tht

I got a new/second UK passport before my L1 visa appointment to have as close to 10 years on it as possible. But had not input the DS160 details as far as I can remember. I did the same day service at the Victoria passport office. I was then asked at the embassy why my passport had no stamps in it… My main driver was actually to allow me to keep traveling while my passport stamp was being issued.. I became a PR within about a year so never needed to renew the L.

S Folinsky

There may be a reason fairly specific to your case that accounts for the advice. It may be that you have misunderstood the advice. It may be that the advice is simply in error.

Polite inquiry and request for clarification might be in order.

(I recall my first employer instructing me that I will make mistakes but make yeoman effort to catch them before “they go out the door.” At the time of my retirement, colleagues would have self-described “brain farts.”)