Can I apply H4 and get it stamped while my H1B is in progress

USA H1B Visa
1

Hello,

This is Rinku. Here is my situation.
Last Year in Feb 2015 I applied for H1B application. It picked up into the lottery but I received RFE and still I didn’t get any updates from USCIS.
Almost more than 8 months are over. Again this year (2016) I applied for new H1B application and it is in progress. My husband traveled on H1B in Jan 2016.
I am waiting for the updates from USCIS. If I get updates from last year H1B application as it is already picked up into the lottery, I can travel immediately. But If this year H1B visa gets approved, I can’t travel before October. So I have below queries–>

  1. Can I apply for H4 and go for H4 stamping while my H1B application is in progress? Will it cause any problem to my H1B application?
  2. If I get this year H1B stamped and holding valid H1B visa and I want to travel before October then can I travel on H4 while holding H1B visa?

Thank you.

Regards,
Rinku

2

  1. No issues. You can appear for H-4 stamping

  2. Not sure I understood the question here. If you have both H-1 and H-4 visa in passport, you can enter on either. If your old H-1 gets approved and stamped, then you can travel on that H-1 prior to Oct 2016. If this year’s H-1 gets approved and stamped, then you cannot use it until Oct 2016. If you enter US on H-4, then your visa status in US would be H-4 and not H-1, and you cannot work. In order to work on H-1, you will have to again enter on stamped H-1 or file COS from H-4 to H-1 and then work from COS approval date.

3

Thank you Saurabh for your response :slight_smile: