h1b stamping at chennai

[prasadh_raju]

Hi all,
My I-797 is valid until june 2009. My passport will expire on Aug 2009, my h1b stamping on my passport has expired more than a year now. I had renewed my passport from Indian Consulate in SFO. Now I have 2 valid passports (different numbers) one expiring Aug 2009 and another expiring Aug 2018.
I am applying for a h1b stamping in chennai in about 10 days. HDFC visa receipt and my visa appointment was made using my old passport. I intend to get the h1b stamping on my old passport as all the paper work is done using old passport.

My questions are
- Should I even let the CO know that I have a new passport that is valid until 2018?
- Can I just let the CO know that I have a new passport and that if s/he could stamp the visa on my new passport though the paper work still points to old passport?

My company has applied for labor certification and its still being processed by DOL. Assuming that I get an extension on my H1b until Oct 2010 as my GC is still being processed and that I decide to travel to India by Feb 2010. Will I have any problem getting out of US or at the US consulate when I apply for re-stamping in Feb 2010 as both my passport and h1b stamping is expired?

Your help is much appreciated.

[kabkaba]

How can you have two valid passports? They should have canceled the old passport and then returned it to you.

It may be ok to have HDFC receipt for old passport because you might have paid the fees before your new passport was issued. If all your appointment scheduling etc. was also done before new passport was issued then it is fine to tell the VO about it.

You could be in a soup, seek legal help asap.

[prasadh_raju]

Hey Kabkaba, Thank you for your help. You are correct, I don't have 2 valid passports. My old passport has been cancelled by Indian Consulate SFO. I booked my appointment using my old (cancelled) passport. I got the HDFC receipt way after I renewed my passport. Will I be able to delete the application/appointment I currently have and rebook another appointment using my old HDFC receipt number using my new passport?

[prasadh_raju]

It looks like we can re-use the existing receipt number, but we will have to take copies of both passports to VFS office along with the HDFC bank receipt and get it changed to the new passport. Later we will have to reschedule the appointment using the new passport.