H4 to H1 Conversion & Stamping

USA H1B Visa
1

Hi Team,

Thank you very much for such a user friendly website.

I am from India and currently on H4 in US & and my husband is on H1 and our visa is valid till 30 Sep 2013.

I am planning to apply for H4 to H1 conversion through a sponsor and having below queries,

1.Do i need to go back to India for H1 stamping? or can i get stamping done here itself?

2.Once the H1 conversion process is initiated can i go to india and come back with current H4 visa validity before H1 gets approved? does this travel to india impact my H1 conversion process?

Request someone to answer my queries.

Thank you in advance

Lakshmi

2

  1. Your H-1 will be filed either w/ COS from H-4 to H-1 or w/ consular processing. If COS gets approved, then you can start working on H-1 from COS effective date (Oct 1 or later) and don’t need to go for stamping immediately. You can delay it until your next visit outside US. If COS is not applied or is denied, then you need to get H-1 visa stamped before entering on that visa.

  2. If you leave US while H-1 is pending, then COS will be abandoned. They will still process the petition and may approve it, but won’t issue the I-94. So you will remain on H-4 and will not move to H-1 once it gets approved.