Traveling Outside the United States for H-1B Employees

Re-entering the U.S.

To re-enter the U.S., you need the following documents:

  • A valid passport
  • A valid H-1B visa (See Visa Exceptions below)
  • The original lower portion of the I-797 approval notice and a copy of the upper portion.
  • A copy of the entire H-1B petition that UM filed. If you have not received a copy, please ask for one from the OIS.
  • Evidence that you continue to be employed according to the terms and conditions of your H-1B petition (i.e. three most recent paycheck stubs, a letter from your employing department).

Visa Exceptions

Citizens of Canada and Bermuda are exempt from visa requirements.

See Automatic Revalidation for information on traveling with an expired visa.

Traveling to a Country Other than your Country of Citizenship

Before traveling to another country of which you are not a citizen, check the United States re-entry requirements, as well as that country's travel requirements.  A list of U.S embassies and consulates can be found here.  Foreign embassies and consulates in the U.S. can be found here.

Canada

Please note that you can re-enter the United States from Canada with an expired U.S. visa stamp if you meet the criteria.

Check the Canadian visa requirements here. If you need a Canadian visa, you can download the application from the Canadian Consulate website.