Is H4 valid after H1B approved with change of status?

Hello ,

I am working in U.S on H1B and my spouse is currently working in India, earlier she was on H4 and now this year her H1B also got approved along with I-129 which is change of status but H1B stamping not done yet, she didn’t travel to U.S even once.

My wife is intent to come on H4 visa. So my doubt is her H4 still valid after H1B approval with change of status, can she enter in U.S on H4 visa or her H4 became void after her H1B approval with change of status. If H4 is is no longer valid, what is the process to change visa back to H4 from H1B outside U.S so that she can enter here on H4.

Also she hasn’t done with stamping of H1B yet, is stamping of H1B required if she is planning to enter on H4 or she can skip that.

Please advise.

Thanks

Change of status is not possible for persons outside US. As your spouse has never been to US, she doesn’t have a valid I-94 for her change of status to be applied for; so the H1b would have been approved with consular processing. If she wants to enter on H1b she needs to appear for consular visa stamping.

Her H4 remains valid and She can enter US in H4; If she has a stamped H4 visa in passport.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply, yeah she has stamped h4, so it means H4 still valid even after her H1B approval. So if she go for H1B stamping, are there any chances that Consulate officer will cancel H4 as I have read certain reverse cases when person go for stamping H4 then Visa Consulate officer have cancelled H1B.
If it is not the case and if she has both H1B and H4 visa stamped on passport, do DOL officer at U.S port of entry going to ask on which Visa you want to enter .
Thanks

Cancelling the H4 stamping; and letting you have only 1 visa stamped in the passport is completely at the discretion of the visa officer.
Yes even if you get both visas stamped in passport; at POE you need to let know in which visa your entering and you need to maintain the status. i.e. cannot work if you enter in H4 status; and payroll must run if you enter in H1b. Your I-94 will be assigned to the visa status that you enter and anytime you can change status inside US by applying COS (which costs) from H4 to H1b or vice versa.

Thanks again, so if she wants to enter U.S on H4 visa then going for H1B stamping is risky business right, since you never know if Visa Officer will cancel H4 visa.