what choice will be better between consular processing and COS from H4 to H1

Hi,

My wife is on H4 and had applied for H1b while she was in US. Due to family function we had to travel to India for 2 weeks. Her H1b got approved recently with consular processing. I am confused to decide between change of status and consular processing. My question are as follows:

  1. Which option is better between COS(H4 to H1) and consular processing?

  2. Is there more risk involved in consular processing?

  3. Her experience is about 5 yrs from Tier 1 company but new employer is a small company. She was on LOA from last 1 year so she has her last payslip from december 2014. After that she has been staying in USA on H4. Will that be an issue during stamping if we decide to go for stamping.

  4. If employer agrees for COS then will that have any risk. We are planning to file that in premium. What are the chances of it not getting approved.

  5. Can we look for some other employer as well for COS if her current employer doesn’t agree?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Regards,

Aditya

  1. I personally prefer to deal w/ USCIS than w/ consulate. So I would go for COS rather than visa stamping.

  2. With small companies, there is always a risk. Ask the employer if they had anyone appearing for visa stamping recently and how their experience was.

  3. Not an issue. She was on H-4 and not allowed to work. So all within the rules.

  4. It should be ok. I don’t think there is PP option available when filing COS.

  5. Yes, another employer can do that. They can file cap-exempt petition along w/ COS in PP. If the current employer doesn’t agree to COS, then that means they are confident about successful visa stamping.

Thanks Saurabh for quick response. You are really helpful to everyone on this forum.

I have one following question:

It was her employer who suggested us that we can travel with no issue and now it came as consular processing. We found out that few of their employees have got 221g in India and I am not sure of how many got success.

My question is if we insist and if employer withdraws the petition then will any other employer be able to file the cap-exempt petition along w/ COS in PP without current approved petition. We just have the receipt number and I am not sure if employer will give us the petition copy if he thinks she will quit.

IMO, she can apply for cap-exempt petition even if current employer withdraws the petition. But you may want to check w/ an attorney as well as some have different opinion on this.

Another option is to appear for stamping (if employer insists) and then hope for the best. If 221g is issued, you can look for other cap-exempt options.

Thanks Saurabh. The above info will help us to decide and yes I will be talking to attorney as well.

Thanks again for taking out your time…