Getting an H1B extension and my spouse's H4 dependent visa together ? ...

[anandkc]

Hi,

Sorry if this has aslready been asked before. If so, can comeone help me point to the relevant thread?


I am on a full-time job here in the US. My H1B visa is expiring this March and and am planning to get my H1B-extension visa stamping done in India - Chennai. I have all the paperwork ready for my H1B extension.

Also, I am getting married around May and would need to apply for my spouse's H4 at that time, so that we can come back to US together.


So, my qn. is -

1.) Does the H4 visa require that I have a H1B extension visa's stamp on my passport before we apply for my spouse's H4? Or is it enough that I have all my H1B-extension paperwork ready with me at that time? Meaning - do they specifically look for my extended H1B visa stamp on my passport to process my spouse's H4?


2.) Can I and my spouse go together for our visa appointments on the same day ?


3.) Is there any other thing that I should look out for in this case?


Thank you for your time!
Anand

[txh1b]

1. You need not get an extension stamped if you alrady have a valid visa. H4 get can a stamp alone as well or both can go for stamping together.

2. Yes, you can go together at the same counter. Forget same day.

3. No. This is immigration 101. You need to spend time doing some reading of the FAQs which can help you.

[anandkc]

Thank you so much for the quick reply!

A small thing that I wanted to clarify again, however -

I would be going to India only this May and my current H1B expires in 3months i.e. March. I have already got my paperwork for my H1B extension and so, to re-enter the US, I would definitely need a H1B-visa stamping on my passport. I wanted to combine this with my spouse's H4 visa appointment.

So, can we still take the same day / counter appointment as you mentioned? The reason I ask is that till now, I was under the impression that I would need to do this in two steps :

a. First, go for my H1b visa stamping (with my H1b extension paperwork)

b. get back the stamped H1B visa and then go again - this time for my spouse's H4 appointment .


I didn't know of such an option being available, hence the qn. again .

Thanks
Anand

[txh1b]

Did you not already clarify that in your first post? You can do it all together.

[anandkc]

I guess I didn't quite catch your meaning the first time . Thanks for the speedy advice!