Accidently added 2 H1B(husband and I) on 1 ustraveldocs profile and scheduled dropbox

[mailuser]

My spouse and me are both on H-1B. Separate H-1Bs with different petitioners, validity dates etc. When we scheduled appointment for dropbox stamping, we logged in to my spouse profile and added his details and then added my name in the family details section. Also in my separate profile, my petition details have been added and my spouse was added as family. The appointment was scheduled from my husband profile. 2 applicants in the same time slot.

Recently both our h-1bs got renewed and we both got new i797s. So we both created new DS160s and then called CGI/UsTravelDocs to change the petition number tagged to the drop box schedule.

When we called, we found out that my husband has been marked as primary and me as dependent. So my petition number and petitioner name is same as his. We were able to update his petition details but they said they cannot update mine. They said 2 H-1Bs cannot be on the same profile and a different profile is needed for me. We have to cancel our appointment and I have to remove my name from his profile and create a separate profile and schedule appointment separately it seems. If I do that now our current appointment will be canceled. There is no way to get another appointment this year atleast. What should I do? Can I still go to the dropbox appointment with my husband? Can I get H-1B visa stamped since my DS160 states H-1B. Or will they consider me as dependent and then stamp H4 visa for me or something? Please help!

[ardin441]

I am on the same boat.... were you able to get your stamping done. Please share your experience.

[ardin441]

I have called the ustraveldoc support and they said no issues as such.

Could you confirm, if you were able to get stamping done.

Thanks

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For anyone who's in the same boat - I went through this in April 2022. My wife and I are both on H1B visas, different employers/petitioners. I had booked dropbox appointment through my profile for both of us, adding my wife as a dependent.
You aren't actually supposed to do that. If your spouse is on H1B, they aren't your dependent, so the visa slot for your spouse has to be booked from their own account.
I called VFS and they told me the same thing. I was panicking as the next dropbox slot was 6 months away. I called an immigration attorney in India who said the same thing, but asked me to appear for the dropbox anyway.

So my wife and I went to the Chennai consulate on appointment day, only I was let in. When I went to the dropbox counter, the person there said, "are you BOTH on H1B visa? You aren't supposed to combine the appointments". I acknowledged that and admitted that I made a mistake adding my wife as a dependent. He then went inside to check with someone else on what to do. He came back and said we'll process it, thankfully. Took all the documents and we got our visas stamped in a week.
So - if you're in the same boat, appear for the visa appointment anyway, the VFS people are pretty understanding. But if you haven't booked your slots yet - BOOK SEPARATELY if you're both on H1B!