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Need help on H1B and H4 visa
Hi,
We have recently been approved for H1B and H4 (my wife) visa. Just after approval, my wife went to India, and I'll later go too, and then we both will get our passport stamped for H1B and H4. The problem is that her passport is valid till August, and we plan to apply for visa stamping in January end. I have couple of ways to do this are -
1. Apply for a new passport, and then apply for a visa stamping. Drawback is that I may loose time, and in case I am put on administrative processing then it'll become difficult for me to get back to the US in time. My aim was as soon as I land in India, I appear for visa interview, and in case I didn't get it, then I have maximum amount of time from my vacation to wait for it.
2. Apply for visa stamping with her old passport. But I am not sure if US embassy in India will honor the passport as it'll be just valid for 6 months. The other concern is even if she gets the visa on that passport, will she be able to enter the US without any hurdle at the port of entry as by that time her passport will be valid for less than 6 months (of course I'll be with her during that time). Additionally, this is the first time I am on H1B and H4 visa, so I really don't know what other complication we'll face even if she is allowed to enter the US. I heard the I-94 will be valid till the validity of the old passport. And after she gets the new passport in the US, then we might have to go out of the US to get it stamped again. Is that so?
3. We appear for visa stamping interviews separately. In this case, she'll have her new passport, and then she'll appear for the interview separately.
I also read in somewhere here that my name should be there in her passport as a spouse to apply for h4 visa. Doesn't the marriage certificate work to prove that?
Thank you in advance for your help.
We have recently been approved for H1B and H4 (my wife) visa. Just after approval, my wife went to India, and I'll later go too, and then we both will get our passport stamped for H1B and H4. The problem is that her passport is valid till August, and we plan to apply for visa stamping in January end. I have couple of ways to do this are -
1. Apply for a new passport, and then apply for a visa stamping. Drawback is that I may loose time, and in case I am put on administrative processing then it'll become difficult for me to get back to the US in time. My aim was as soon as I land in India, I appear for visa interview, and in case I didn't get it, then I have maximum amount of time from my vacation to wait for it.
2. Apply for visa stamping with her old passport. But I am not sure if US embassy in India will honor the passport as it'll be just valid for 6 months. The other concern is even if she gets the visa on that passport, will she be able to enter the US without any hurdle at the port of entry as by that time her passport will be valid for less than 6 months (of course I'll be with her during that time). Additionally, this is the first time I am on H1B and H4 visa, so I really don't know what other complication we'll face even if she is allowed to enter the US. I heard the I-94 will be valid till the validity of the old passport. And after she gets the new passport in the US, then we might have to go out of the US to get it stamped again. Is that so?
3. We appear for visa stamping interviews separately. In this case, she'll have her new passport, and then she'll appear for the interview separately.
I also read in somewhere here that my name should be there in her passport as a spouse to apply for h4 visa. Doesn't the marriage certificate work to prove that?
Thank you in advance for your help.
