Can stamping be Denied even when Extension is Approved ?

[carolhere]

Hi All,

This forum is a great help to everyone who are confused or need help. Thanks for helping ...

I have a very generic question, can a candidate denied Visa stamping for H1B Extension in India when they've got the I797 approval notice and were working US. Here is our case,
- We've got the H1B in 2010 and came to US in October.
- We got Visa for a Year only, until 9/30/2011
- We got H1B extension till 2014 now, and we've the petition approval notice.
- We're planning to go to India and get Visa stamping done

Can Visa stamping be denied after having the petition approved?

I work in Employer - Client model, and as like others my Employer said they can not share couple of confidential documents with me and if required, they can share details to consulate.

Thanks.

[kabkaba]

Yes. The commonly used word 'stamping' is wrong and misleading. It tends to indicate that petition approval is same as Visa approval and all the beneficiary has to do is to complete formality of so called 'stamping'.
Petition and Visa are two separate things. Petition approval in no way means or guarantees Visa approval.
Petition is filed by the employer, with USCIS (part of DHS). Only DHS has to authority to issue work authorization and authorizing stay in the US. The petition authorizes the beneficiary to work in the US and if he/she is already in the US it can extend their stay. (If not in the US, stay is granted at POE by a CBP officer. CBP is part of DHS). Any authorized stay ends once you leave the US. But work authorization may not end.
Visa is applied for by the employee with Consulate/Embassy (part of department of State). It gives the applicant a right to travel to US and request entry. DoS can deny the Visa for a variety of reasons.
So considering the above key differences, petition does not guarantee Visa and Visa does not guarantee entry to the US.

In your particular case, it is acceptable that employer share certain documents with the consulate directly. Working in consulting position makes Visa issuance more difficult than direct employment. But many consultants still do get their Visas. You need to be prepared to spend more time in your home country in case of additional administrative processing.

[carolhere]

Thanks for the explanation, this makes things a little more clear.

Considering E-C model, does that improve the chances of getting Stamping through w/o issues? Or that itself does not help any further ...

[kabkaba]

EC is better than EVC.