Can we get H4 followed by H1b stamped? | Will both be valid?

USA L1, L2 Visa
1

Hi All,

Background:

I am in India, and i will be going for my H1B stamping in next couple of weeks. My wife is also a working professional. If things work well, we both want to work in US, she also has valid H1B petition. We have a 2 yr kid.

When i go for stamping, I will get my wife and kid H4 visa. However they will not travel with me.

Her employer is expecting projects in March/April 2015 and plan to send her on H1b during that time,

Few questions:

  1. Will H4 be cancelled, when she goes for H1b stamping?

  2. Is there a chance of her H1B rejection, when H4 is already stamped?

  3. We have not decided through which visa she will travel, does getting H4 stamped now a good idea?

Thanks for your time.

2

  1. Yes, they may cancel her H-4 w/o prejudice when approving her H-1 visa stamp. This is normal

  2. H-4 stamping will not impact the outcome of H-1 stamping.

  3. IMO, you should get it stamped. Her employer’s opportunity may or may not come through and if she wants to travel in b/w w/ kid to be w/ you, it would be nice to have H-4 visa stamp handy. The only disadvantage is that if she goes for H-1 visa stamp and later travels on the same, H-4 visa fees will be a total loss. Kid’s H-4 visa stamp is required in both instances, so you are good there.

3

Thanks for quick response.

A followup question.

  1. “Kid’s H-4 visa stamp is required in both instances, so you are good there.”
    Does Kid has to undergo H4 stamping both the times. Will it not be enough to get H4 stamping through any one of our H1b’s?
4

What I meant was irrespective of whether wife goes for H-4 stamping now or not, the kid would still need H-4 visa stamp. So there is no financial loss in getting kid’s visa stamped now vs later.