Posted by: YRA January 17, 2018
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Not a legal advice, but see if this helps:
To go to Nepal, all you need is a valid passport (which you have).
To come back, you need a valid passport (which you have) and an H1B visa stamp on your passport (which you don't have). So you basically need to apply for H1B visa in Kathmandu before you can come back.
You don't become out of status simply because your visa stamped on your passport long ago has expired, as long as you switched to another visa. If you went from F1 to OPT to H1B without going out of status in between, you should be fine. Many people change status here without going out of the country, which basically means -- like you -- they don't necessarily have a stamped visa for their current visa type. What matters is whether you maintained your status. For example, you dropped out of school and stayed that way for a long time when you were on a F1 visa, then you've lost your status even if you have F1 visa valid for a loooooong time.
Now about risk of not getting a visa in Kathmandu, there is certainly an element of randomness and very often people are kept on what's called Admin Processing (which, I am told, can take up to 2 months before the visa is approved). But I don't know anyone with a valid I-797 and other documents showing proof of employment (get letter from your employer, take a few recent pay stubs, etc.) whose visa has been rejected. If you end up being the rare unlucky one...well...it's likely beyond your direct control anyway.
Btw, also don't forget that you need an approval from the labor ministry (Sram Bibhag in Soaltee Mod) to come back to work in the US. I have been told that sometimes people get away without it, but I have been asked for the stamp everytime at TIA.
To go to Nepal, all you need is a valid passport (which you have).
To come back, you need a valid passport (which you have) and an H1B visa stamp on your passport (which you don't have). So you basically need to apply for H1B visa in Kathmandu before you can come back.
You don't become out of status simply because your visa stamped on your passport long ago has expired, as long as you switched to another visa. If you went from F1 to OPT to H1B without going out of status in between, you should be fine. Many people change status here without going out of the country, which basically means -- like you -- they don't necessarily have a stamped visa for their current visa type. What matters is whether you maintained your status. For example, you dropped out of school and stayed that way for a long time when you were on a F1 visa, then you've lost your status even if you have F1 visa valid for a loooooong time.
Now about risk of not getting a visa in Kathmandu, there is certainly an element of randomness and very often people are kept on what's called Admin Processing (which, I am told, can take up to 2 months before the visa is approved). But I don't know anyone with a valid I-797 and other documents showing proof of employment (get letter from your employer, take a few recent pay stubs, etc.) whose visa has been rejected. If you end up being the rare unlucky one...well...it's likely beyond your direct control anyway.
Btw, also don't forget that you need an approval from the labor ministry (Sram Bibhag in Soaltee Mod) to come back to work in the US. I have been told that sometimes people get away without it, but I have been asked for the stamp everytime at TIA.