H4 to F1 in India Stamping

Hello all,

My wife started school on H4 in December 2018. She completed her first semester and doing second semester now.

My question is when is the right time to go for Visa stamping (H4 to F1 conversion).

Will there be any problem if she attend F1 visa interview after the third semester (before the last semester of graduation).

Please advice.
Thanks.

Stamping for F1 is a very tricky situation. The reason is that you are moving from a Dual Intent Visa to a Non-Immigrant Intent visa.

When you go for stamping, it will be hard to justify that you will not immigrate or settle down in US, the reason is that your spouse ( who is on H1B now) would be there and you changing your status to H4 and applying for Green card indicates your immigrant intent …so, it will be hard…Some had success with the stamping, many had failures.
Unless, there is an emergency or compelling reason, you should avoid going for stamping…it can be risky.

Thanks for your response.

Yes I understand it’s risk, but at this point of time we are planning to go for stamping.

We are planning for stamping after the 3rd semester. If the VO asks a question like
why you need F1 in the last semester ?

Can you please suggest a best answer based on your experience.

Thanks,
Venkat.

Well, there is nothing called best…it is relative…
My view is that you need to state the facts and answer your interview questions with conviction…The moment you get answer from someone else like me, you miss that conviction and you will not be able to further answer, if they go deep. So think of your situation and come up with something that is genuine and also sensible…
Do share your update and experience with community here once you go for stamping…