H1 and H4 Simultaneously

A

Analyst

Registered Users (C)
Dear Friends

Anyone here has the experience of getting an H1 and H4 simultaneously. I am a F1 to H1 planning to go back to India to get my multiple entry stamped. Can I get my wife's H4 done simultaneously. If so how should I book for appointments, should it be the same day or are these two independent processes that can be done on different days. I believe my wife would have to carry pretty much all the documents I produce for a H1 so would it be possible for us to have the same day and time for interviews.

Please furnish as much details as you have heard or seen.

Thanks
 
Analyst said:
Dear Friends

Anyone here has the experience of getting an H1 and H4 simultaneously. I am a F1 to H1 planning to go back to India to get my multiple entry stamped. Can I get my wife's H4 done simultaneously.
-----yes, for more info check the particular consulate site
If so how should I book for appointments, should it be the same day or are these two independent processes that can be done on different days. I believe my wife would have to carry pretty much all the documents I produce for a H1 so would it be possible for us to have the same day and time for interviews.

Please furnish as much details as you have heard or seen.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Yes, I did this in Chennai. If you are applying for H1 and H4, they RECOMMEND that you come together.

You book a single appointment. You can enter your dependent's passport information as well into the single appointment on one of the screens.

In addition to the document list they specify, take plenty of evidence of marriage, including a dozen wedding photographs, with half showing wedding rituals. As you have already been in US, take all documents necessary to show you have always been in legal status in US (ie, I-20, OPT-EAD etc)

At Chennai consulate, I did NOT need to get our passports annotated with spouse name and my wife didn't change her last name either.

~T
 
Thanks ginnu and talkative for your replies.

Here is the trickiest part in booking an appointment. I do not have my wife to be's passport details as my proposal is not finalized. However my family is determined in me getting married when I visit India. Now I just have my details to book an appointment. I cannot wait till last minute to book my appointment for my H1 stamping. On the other hand I am not sure how I should plan for my wife to be's H4. All the evidence and supporting documents is not a problem. The problem here is that it is difficult to get an appointment within a month or so of our travel dates. So I need to book in advance for a visa appointment. Is there any way I can book an appointment for just me and then add my wife-to-be's details to that same appointment at a later date. Has someone come across a similar situation?? Any suggestions??

Also Talkative has mentioned that he did not have to change his name or endorse his wife's name in his passport. Let's say that I want to do it, how many days before my appointment should I plan to get this done (considering delays in passport office and other red tapism).

Thanks to all those who respond(ed)
 
As far as I remember while entering data, you have to completely enter the data including the passports you plan to add. After the booking is done, all you can change is the date.. nothing else... Thats why they ask you to check the details once again before confirmation. One thing that might work is book an appointment in your name, and hold on to it, once you know the person, cancel it and immediately try to rebook it.. Again its a chance, so don't be sure.

My wife got my name annotated in her passport. It took her a day and a half. But need to take into account the rush at the office..

good luck
 
Analyst - my wife and I had different appointments (with her date being the preferred one), so we had to drop them BOTH appointments and create a fresh one. [It won't let you add a passport if it appears on any other appointment. And the primary H1 holder must be the main applicant]

So, late at night in Indian time (this is when there is least activity, even though it's morning in US), I had one browser window open with the new appointment data all pre-entered using RoboForms and ready to go.

In another browser (be sure to open a new browser from scratch, don't do Ctrl+N), I dropped the old appointment.

Then in few seconds, I filled the new appointment and grabbed my old date onto my new appointment.

Yeah, it's hairy, but it worked for me (July 03)! And you really really need the cool RoboForm software (free from here: http://www.roboform.com/) to pull this one off.

And make sure your internet connection is good. If you indeed fail to get the appointment, I think you can go to any other Consulate as your travel dates are close and you would be "unduly inconvenienced" if you waited for an appointment in your home consulate. At least last year, the Chennai Consulate web site said this specifically.

Best of luck!
~T
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks all

Thanks a lot T and Srini. Roboform looks like a cool software though I have no clue how to use it. But I guess I need the luck you had in dropping and getting an appointment for the same date. Thanks again for all your responses. One more clarification(I had posted this elsewhere in this portal but got no responses) is that I am planning to apply for my GC and assuming I travel to India after a year from now, I should have my LC cleared in RIR. Will that affect my H1 or possible H4 stamping. Should I disclose it or not in the interview or in the forms. I know that H and L visas are dual intent visas, but its just bugging my mind. Any thoughts on this???
 
H1/H4 form asks if you have submitted I-140, not LC (see my post on your other query). So you are OK there. My LC was too in process, but that never came up in the forms or interview.

RoboForms fills forms for you. So you can pre-enter your and wife's details and save it. So after you drop your old appointment, you can quickly fill in the new appointment information by clicking RoboForm autofill button. This way, you can be done with your new appointment 3-5 seconds after you drop your old appointment.

I'd say that if somebody takes your appointment in the 3-5 second window, you are plain unlucky!! There isn't THAT much demand for appointments.

I even practised this with my wife's appointment. They don't get taken up that fast. But if something goes wrong (like your internet disconnects), you'll definitely lose it.

~T
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top