A traveler, returning to the U.S. after a family vacation in Europe, has found himself in very stressful circumstances as he contemplates his potential ineligibility at the border for entry due to an apparent mix-up with his visa.
The individual in question holds an F1 visa and is in the process of transitioning to an H1B work-visa, having left the United States during his Cap-Gap period without an H1B visa stamp a decision he now would really like to retract.
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Where Cap-Gap is a period of time when an F1 student extends their stay in the country while waiting for their H1B to kick in, leaving the country during that period of time may cause serious problems.
He can pretty well bank on the fact that he will be denied re-entry upon his return from Switzerland. He made it onto the plane by showing immigration documentation of his OPT and Cap-Gap extension, but he suspects the airport staff misconstrued his actual current visa
status.
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The issue, visa restriction, really underlines how much attention the issue needs. The Cap-Gap period, the attorneys advise against traveling without an H1 visa stamp as it usually leads to a situation in which the abandonment of the change-of-status request is automatic, and one will not be able to enter the U.S. again until an H1B visa is obtained from a U.S. consulate.
That’s a lesson hard-learned for this traveler-and, really a reminder to all similar situations to think twice before leaving the US during this tricky period of transition.
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