Visa Revalidation, Reissuance, Stamping in USA

General Information

Difference between extension and revalidation:

1. Extension You have to apply for H1B extension at the BCIS (formerly called INS) office, if your approved H1B is about to expire. It is advisable to apply for extension atleast 6 months before the expiry of current approval, because extension approval takes 4-6 months for most of the cases.

2. Revalidation If you have approved H-1B and VISA on your passport is about to expire then you have to apply for revalidation at St.louis. (This is just revalidating your VISA, so that if you travel outside US, you can come to US using your valid VISA)

If you changed employers and received a new I-797, Notice of Action, petition approval from the Department of Homeland Security (formerly called INS), you may reenter the U.S. with a valid visa in the appropriate category and the valid I-797 from your new employer, even though the visa is annotated to reflect your former employer. The Visa Office will not revalidate a visa to reflect a change of employer unless the visa will expire in sixty days or less.

Eligibility

1. You should have the same category of VISA on your passport (If you have changed your status, you cannot get the stamping in USA)

2. Your VISA should not be valid for more than 60 days or should not be expired for more than a year (You revalidate your visa within 1 year after the expiration of your OLD visa)

3. The Visa Office does not revalidate visas for nationals of Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria, the seven countries currently designated as state sponsors of terrorism.

4. The following visa categories are NOT revalidated in the Visa Office: B1/B2 (business/tourism); C (transit) D (crew member); F (student); J (exchange visitor); M (vocational student); or R (religious worker)

The Visa Office considers existing visas for revalidation when they are within sixty days of expiration. Visas received for revalidation before that sixty-day period are returned without revalidation. If your visa has expired, the Visa Office accepts applications for visa revalidation only if the visa is within one year of its expiration date. Your nationality must be the same as when your previous visa was issued for the Visa Office to accept your visa revalidation application.

Processing Time

As of mid-April 2003, visa revalidation processing takes approximately 10-12 weeks. If you anticipate urgent travel, please apply for your visa at a U.S. consulate or embassy in your home country Links to United States Consulates Worldwide

Documents for H-1B Revalidation

Each applicant for visa revalidation in the Visa Office must pay the nonrefundable US$100 nonimmigrant visa application processing fee and submit the following documents. All required documentation must be submitted with the visa application. The Visa Office is unable to accept supplementary mailings from applicants who forgot to include some or all of the required documentation or other information.

• H and L applicants must submit a comprehensive letter from the principal alien’s employer identifying the applicant and describing in detail the nature and function of the applicant’s position. The letter must be on the letterhead of the current employer, must bear an original signature from an authorized company representative, and must be addressed to the Visa Office, Department of State.



• One Nonimmigrant Visa Application, Form DS-156, completed in English, with the applicant’s original signature. (A parent should sign for an applicant under age 14.) All questions on the DS-156 must be answered. The form must be typed or printed. Please spell out the month of birth (i.e., write "January 2," not 1/2 or 2/1). If the DS-156 is incomplete or improperly filled out, the passport(s) will be returned without visa(s). The Visa Office accepts only the February 2003 version of the DS-156, which is available at VISA Forms This version includes a space for a bar code sticker. Previous versions of the DS-156 are not accepted. The OF-156 is no longer accepted. The Visa Office does not provide copies of the DS-156.



• One Supplemental Nonimmigrant Visa Application, Form DS-157, for all male applicants between the ages of 16 and 45, regardless of nationality, in addition to the DS-156. The DS-157 must be typed or printed. All questions on the DS-157 must be answered. Applicants whose native language is not written in the English alphabet should print their names in their native language in item 3 of the DS-157



• One photograph stapled or glued to the DS-156 in the designated space, which meets the nonimmigrant photograph requirements Photo Details



• A passport valid for travel to the U.S. and valid at least six months beyond the visa application date (including Visa Office processing time). If more than one person is included in the passport, each person applying for a visa must submit a visa application. You must present a passport bearing your most recent E, H, I, L, O, or P visa. Each applicant receives an individual visa, and each Machine Readable Visa (MRV) covers a full passport page. Therefore, passports must contain a blank, unmarked visa page for each U.S. visa to be placed in the passport. Remove extraneous pieces of paper (slips of paper with phone numbers, old airline boarding passes, etc.) from the passport. You may submit a passport in a protective cover.



• The original or a certified copy of Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Record annotated by the Department of Homeland Security (formerly INS) immigration inspector from your most recent admission to the U.S. Please staple the I-94 to a page in your current passport.



• The original or a photocopy of your current, valid employment petition Form I-797 (H-1B Extension Approval), Notice of Action from the Immigration and Naturalization Service/Department of Homeland Security.



• Visa issuance reciprocity fee, if applicable. Please consult the Visa Reciprocity Tables to determine if you must pay a visa issuance reciprocity fee.



• Nationals of India, please note: There is a reciprocal visa issuance fee in the H, L, O, and P categories of $75 per applicant. Reciprocity fees are in addition to the US$100 visa application processing fee that each applicant must pay



• A prepaid courier service airbill and envelope or a self-addressed stamped envelope for return of the passport and other documents. The Visa Office does not endorse the use of any particular commercial courier service. If using the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Service recommends a padded envelope for passport return. A family should submit one courier airbill/envelope or one self-addressed, stamped envelope for the return of their documents. Please use your address as the “from” address on the airbill or the self-addressed envelope. Please ensure that you have written your courier company account number or that you have given the courier company a valid credit card number on the airbill.



• If the spouse and/or dependent children are applying for visas separately from the principal alien, submit certified copies of the principal alien’s valid visa and valid I-94 (front and back) in addition to the other listed requirements.A spouse/dependent applying separately from the principal alien must include the original or a photocopy of the principal alien's I-797.

Fee Payment

Payment of visa revalidation fees may be made by bank draft, corporate check, or money order, payable to the U.S. Department of State. The Visa Office does not accept payment by cash, credit card, or personal check. Payment for the visa application processing fee and the visa issuance reciprocity fee, if applicable, may be combined in one bank draft, corporate check, or money order. A family may submit one check for all visa application processing fees and visa issuance reciprocity fees. Payment must be drawn on a U.S. bank and must be in U.S. currency.

Address

Visa revalidation applications must be sent to one of the addresses below

Postal Service

US Department of State/Visa P. O. Box 952099, St. Louis, MO 63195-2099, Fax: 202-663-1608

Courier Service

US Department of State/Visa (Box 2099) 1005 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63101-1200, Fax: 202-663-1608

Visa And Documentation Return

Issued visas and other documents (I-94s, employment letters, I-797 petitions, etc.) are returned to you via your self-addressed, stamped envelope or prepaid courier airbill and courier envelope. On the courier airbill, please ensure that you have written your courier company account number or a valid credit card number. Ensure that you make a note of your airbill or other tracking number. You will need this information if you want to contact the courier for status information. The Visa Office is unable to provide this information to you if you misplace it.

The U.S. Postal Service and the major courier service companies pick up envelopes and packages from the Visa Office’s office building daily. The Visa Office cannot guarantee that the U.S. Postal Service or any courier service company will pick up envelopes on any given day, or when the envelopes will be dispatched by the courier service company or the U.S. Postal Service.

Withdrawing A Visa Revalidation Application

Visa revalidation processing is now 10-12 weeks. Once you submit your passport, it will take approximately 10-12 weeks for the Visa Office to return your passport to you.

If you anticipate a need to travel during the time it will take the Visa Office to revalidate your visa, you should apply for your visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas.

If you must withdraw your visa revalidation application, please fax your request to the Visa Revalidation Division at 202-663-1608. The fax must include:

• Applicant's name (as written in the passport), date and place of birth, and nationality



• Visa category (e.g., E, H, I, L, O, P)



• Method sent (e.g., FedEx, Express Mail, DHL, World Courier, UPS, Priority Mail, etc.)



• Date the Department of State received the package



• Name and return address on envelope, and Telephone and/or fax number of someone to contact if there are difficulties locating the application.

Once you ask the VISA office to return your passport, do not send a subsequent fax canceling your request

US Department of state