Myself and my wife are on EAD/AP with AOS pending. The existing AP that my wife has is valid till January 25, 2009. I have applied for renewal of her AP in October 2008 at Nebraska Service Center(Receipt Date : October 22, 2008).
She left for India on Novenmber 28, 2008 for some urgent matter and is required to stay there till April 2009.

My question is, does she need to return to US before January 25 2009 (date when her existing AP expires) or she can stay there beyond January 25 2009 and come back later using the renewed AP which I expect to receive by end of December, 2008 and can hand it over to her when I travel to India after receiving the renewed AP.