India Travel on H4 when H1B is filed

[Peaceful]

Hi,
I am on H4 ( which is valid till Jan 2008) and my H1B visa will be filed in April 2007. I plan to visit India in June 2007 and return to US in July 2007.
Can someone clarify if I will have any issues travelling on my H4 when my H1 is in process (or even obtained) ?
Please help.
Thanks.

[sthota]

If your travel happens when H1 is still in process, you change of status (COS) will be denied but your H1 will be processed. You will receive I-797 (petition) without H1 I-94 attached to it. which means you have to go out of country to get H1b stamped inorder to start working.

It's always advisable to travel only after the COS is approved but the return jouney has to be perfomed before your H1b start date. Wait till May for the approval and if you still don't get it, upgrade to Premium. all the best.

Cheers

[simran]

Mind u, even u travel after the COS approval, still on entering back u won't be able to work if entered without H1 stamping.
If your travel happens when H1 is still in process, you change of status (COS) will be denied but your H1 will be processed. You will receive I-797 (petition) without H1 I-94 attached to it. which means you have to go out of country to get H1b stamped inorder to start working.

It's always advisable to travel only after the COS is approved but the return jouney has to be perfomed before your H1b start date. Wait till May for the approval and if you still don't get it, upgrade to Premium. all the best.

Cheers

[tchennakesh]

Alternatively you can file a fresh H1 instead of COS. In this case you can Travel out of USA and come back without any problem. After coming back you can change the status from H4 --> H1 with the approved H1.

[Peaceful]

Thanks folks for clarifying my doubt.
if I do Premium processing, in what way will it help me?