h1b renewal

[pragan]

Hi,

My visa expires(3 years) in april and I would like to know if I can start the renewal process only in Feb middle. The reason is because my wife has to travel to india for family reasons(between jan mid- feb mid) and then I guess she cannot travel if i start the process in december/january..

if i had to do it in january then i guess if she travels she has to go for stamping alone..

is premium processing advisable and is it any quick?

please advise what is the best thing to do.

regards

[shervin143]

My visa expires(3 years) in april and I would like to know if I can start the renewal process only in Feb middle. The reason is because my wife has to travel to india for family reasons(between jan mid- feb mid) and then I guess she cannot travel if i start the process in december/january..
>>> It is not that she cannot travel. It is just not advisable because the extension of status could get denied and the petition could get approved for consular process. If at all the petition gets approved, she will end-up having two I-94s (One with extension and one that she gets at the POE). Anyways, when she returns, she need to have a valid H4 visa. So I don't think there is any point in waiting till Feb to apply the extension.

if i had to do it in january then i guess if she travels she has to go for stamping alone..
>>> Doesn't matter. She anyhow need to have a valid visa to return back.

is premium processing advisable and is it any quick?
>>> Premium will get you a result within 15 days. However, there is no premium for H4. But sometimes, when H1B is applied as a premium, H4 will also get the result quicker. Getting the H4 processed quickly will help your wife to her get H4 stamping of required.