Does wife need H4 approval or receipt only?

[Huboo]

I am planning to go to Canada with my wife (from the US).
I will be getting my H1B stamp (extension) and my wife will apply for an H4. She is on an F1 right now.
My laywer told us that the Receipt for her H4 application is enough for her to get the H4 visa. Another attorney was absolutely certain that she needs to get the Approval for the H4 petition before she can get a visa...very confusing..

Can anyone advise me on this?

thank you..

 

[newbies]

I am planning to go to Canada with my wife (from the US).
I will be getting my H1B stamp (extension) and my wife will apply for an H4. She is on an F1 right now.
My laywer told us that the Receipt for her H4 application is enough for her to get the H4 visa. Another attorney was absolutely certain that she needs to get the Approval for the H4 petition before she can get a visa...very confusing..

Can anyone advise me on this?

thank you..

Approval is needed. Receipt does not guaranty the application will be approved. But if your lawyer can approve the application, he might be right

 

[Huboo]

Thanks for replying...I'm not sure if you're kidding when saying that "your lawyer can approve the application"..
What the lawyer says is that an H4 is linked to an H1, which of course is me. So he says that as long as the H1 applicant gets an approval that means that the H4 applicant will be approved as well...When I called to make an appointment at the US consulate in Canada they didn't even ask for this approval, they said the same thing pretty much..
However, just as you wrote, everybody else I've talked to says we need an approval for the H4..the problem is that we need to travel very soon and the Vermont center are taking their sweet time processing this thing..I just looked and they are now processing the petitions from August..we filed at the end of September)...
I'dd really appreciate any further insight...