Any new changes in H4 Visa processing - please help!

[funfolk]

I'm a primary (H1) applicant and I got my petition (I-129) approved in Dec, 2012 time frame. My family is currently in India, and I am planning to get them to US in Feb.
I got the DS-160 filled and Visa fee receipt ready. I also have all other supporting documents (such my petition copy, employment letter, pay stub, etc..).
When I called Stanley (new USTravelDept) to book an appointment for the interview, I was asked to get a new petition (approved) for my wife and kid, I cannot use the principal applicant petition anymore. Looks like this new change was implemented as of Jan 31st,2013.

Has anyone heard about this new change? I informed the Stanley people that there is no information on site (us visa official site) about this new change. They said this was launched recently and will slowly be updated in the site. Is this true ???

I checked with my employer/company and they said that there is no such change, and if it was ever changed, they would have already known this.

Can someone please advise/help with this issue?

If anyone has similar experience please share the information that you may have with this issue.

Thanks in Advance!

[kabkaba]

There is no such thing as H4 petition. Stanley people are confusing petition with DS160 application which always needed to be filed for each and every applicant. Do two things, first when you call Stanley, ask to speak to a supervisor and ask them what they mean by a petition for dependents. Secondly, write directly to the consulate by their email address (ex. mumbainiv AT state DOT gov) and see what they say.

[funfolk]

There is no such thing as H4 petition. Stanley people are confusing petition with DS160 application which always needed to be filed for each and every applicant. Do two things, first when you call Stanley, ask to speak to a supervisor and ask them what they mean by a petition for dependents. Secondly, write directly to the consulate by their email address (ex. mumbainiv AT state DOT gov) and see what they say.

Thanks ! I've sent an email to mumbainiv email address and I got the following response; It is again asking us to contact ustraveldocs/Stanley guys
I will call them again AM IST, and see if they say anything different.

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[funfolk]

Hi, I called them back again today AM. I talked to one of the senior people and he confirmed that no petition is required for H4 dependents. I think some of the new folks are not given proper training and as you said they do not know the difference between DS-160 and petition. grrrrh...
Anyways, thanks for giving positive hope!

[happybuddha]

Hi, I called them back again today AM. I talked to one of the senior people and he confirmed that no petition is required for H4 dependents. I think some of the new folks are not given proper training and as you said they do not know the difference between DS-160 and petition. grrrrh...
Anyways, thanks for giving positive hope!

With the number of people getting confused with this specifically, your post should be made a sticky, IMO