I respectfully disagree with you wwossen that it does not make a difference. If you have to travel thru Europe unless you are from one of the exempt countries you have to take a transit visa as some of the European countries don't consider I-551 stamp as legit. For a family of 4 that's additional $200-300 expense. Also try applying for a mortgage. Lot of mortgage companies are fussy about the stamp. They will consider H1 which has a longer validity than a I-551 that has just a year. Also as someone else mentioned earlier, I don't want to step into that USCIS office ever again except for naturalization if at all. So while in most respects it does not make a difference it does in some instances. I understand there is nothing you can do about it. I would rather try and find if cards are being issued for a date close to my stamping than to sleep and realize a week before the expiry date that I need to go for restamping. Most importantly I want to put this to bed for good and not think about it at all. While I agree that Oct'04 stamping has some ways to go and it is not an unsual wait, I wouldn't ask that guy if it makes a difference or not. It may not for you, but for some it could because of circumstances. Take it easy buddy!