I am working in US on a H1B visa. My wife and kid live in India. My H1B visa got expired on Sep 2015, I have applied for extension and currently waiting for approval. It looks the extension process will take another 3-4 months,
so I am planning to take my family through B2 tourist visa instead of H4 dependent visa which will take long time in my case. Can someone please clarify on the below queries, also suggest me if you have an alternate solution.
Can she seek entry into US using the B2 visa ?
Will it have any impact on her ability to get H4 visa later ?
Will there be any issue in POE if they come with B2 visa ?
She wants to enter as tourist. This could be risky as she will have to mention that her husband is working in US on H-1 while she is applying for a pure non-immigrant visa (H-1 is dual intent visa)
She will have to file COS from B-2 to H-4 if she gets B-2
PoE is the easier part. Once she has the visa, she should be able to enter US
Why don’t you upgrade your petition to PP so that you can get an early extension. Then ask your dependents to appear for H-4 visa stamping. Mathematically, PP costs 1225 and your future COS from B-2 to H-4 would cost around 400 each (800 for 2 people). In addition, they will have to appear for H-4 visa stamping when they leave US next (visa stamping costs)