Travel FAQ: The Ten Questions Every NRI Asks Before Flying

Documents and re-entry: the three-check ritual

Check one — the visa stamp: valid on your return date? You can always leave the US on an expired stamp; returning requires a valid one (with narrow automatic-revalidation exceptions for short trips to Canada/Mexico under conditions that exclude anyone who applies for a new visa there — read the official rule before relying on it).

Check two — the I-20/DS-2019 travel signature for students and scholars: generally valid twelve months, but only six months while on OPT. Check three — passport validity: six months past your return, for every traveler including infants. Families fail these checks one member at a time; run all three for all travelers.

And after every single entry: download the new I-94 and verify class and date — data errors happen at the border and are fixable through CBP's correction process, but only when caught early.

Travel while things are pending — the consequential questions

Pending H-1B extension with the same employer: travel is generally manageable (you'd return on the existing approval if still valid, or wait out adjudication abroad) — but carry the receipt notice and get attorney sign-off on your specific dates. Pending change of status (say F-1 to H-1B): departure generally abandons the change-of-status request while the underlying petition survives — a distinction that decides whether you're stamping abroad by design or by accident.

Pending I-485 adjustment: departing without advance parole abandons the application for most categories (H-1B/L-1 holders maintaining status have protections) — the bright-line rule that has ended green-card cases over a weekend trip. Pending OPT with no EAD yet, pending naturalization with a scheduled oath: each has its own travel trap. The pattern: anything pending means one email to your attorney before booking, every time.

At the airports, both ends

US side: declare currency over $10,000 per family and every food item (our customs guide has the full rules); global entry/mobile passport speed re-entry for eligible statuses. Transit: most Gulf and European hubs need no transit visa for through-passengers with onward boarding passes — but the UK and Canada have transit-visa regimes that catch Indian passport holders; verify the transit country's current rule for your specific documents before ticketing a cheap routing.

India side: OCI holders carry both card and foreign passport; NRIs on Indian passports need nothing extra; and India's baggage rules on gold, currency and electronics (see the customs guide) apply on arrival. Keep boarding passes and entry stamps' evidence for the year's tax day-counting on both sides — the frequent flyer's version of good bookkeeping.