Hacker News Reader

Comment by alvatech | Hacker News Reader

Is a H-1B holder already in USA allowed to travel out side the country and comeback?

I would highly, highly recommend not traveling. My fiancee already has an H-1B, and we were traveling together when all this broke out. She has not been allowed back in the country, and it unlikely she is able to be let back in anytime soon. I have not seen her in over five months, and there is no rainbow in sight as to when she can return.

Your story if truly heartbreaking. Me and my fiancee met the same problems (not in the US), however we decided that being together is more important than having better career opportunities - so we choose a country where both of us were able to receive a business visa without significant problems. Were you considering something like that?

Yes, I am actively considering to move out of the country. However, this is troublesome too. My parents and brother are still here, and my parents are aging. If I do have kids, I would love for my parents to be around them, and I miss my parents dearly already since I unfortunately live far away, even in the U.S.

I totally understand your situation. I meet my parents twice a year (well, was meeting before COVID-19), my working options severely limited, however I'm not even for a second was feeling regrets of my decision.

Hope these restrictions are temporary, also AFAIK after being actually married, your spouse would be eligible for K-1 US visa. Wish you luck in any case.

Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. Hopefully you are doing well in your situation now.

I hope these are temporary, but I imagine they will be temporary until at least January of next year. If the unthinkable happens in November, the prognosis is not good. Even the K-1 visa has large delays, and they aren't even processing any visas at U.S. Consulates in China right now.

I don’t think that’s quite right. K-1 is the fiancé(e) visa: it’s to allow someone to whom you are not yet married to enter the U.S. in order to marry.

If a U.S. citizen marries abroad, they would file an I-130 petition for their spouse to immigrate in the IR/CR category; they would then be able to file for a K-3 non-immigrant spouse visa so their spouse could accompany them to the U.S. while the I-130 petition was processed.

My immigration HR told me to stop travelling when all of this nonsense started, it is a really unreasonable risk.

Despite the fact that you legally can (according to a sibling comment), it's practically unwise.

Yeah.

Sec. 3. Scope of Suspension and Limitation on Entry. (a) The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 2 of this proclamation shall apply only to any alien who:

(i) is outside the United States on the effective date of this proclamation;

(ii) does not have a nonimmigrant visa that is valid on the effective date of this proclamation; and

(iii) does not have an official travel document other than a visa (such as a transportation letter, an appropriate boarding foil, or an advance parole document) that is valid on the effective date of this proclamation or issued on any date thereafter that permits him or her to travel to the United States and seek entry or admission.

Yes this appears to be a loophole, wherein anyone in the US on June 24 who has a valid nonimmigrant visa (could be a tourist or student visa) is able to obtain a visa label in a banned category at a US Consulate.

That said whether DOS interprets it that way is another story.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com