H4 Visa appointments scheduled with current employer/petition - H1B Transfer Approved (with New employer/petition) - Joining date between biometric & visa interview dates

[RKV US]

Hi all,

I am on H1B in US an my family is in India and awaiting visa appointments.

Dependents' DS160 was submitted using current employer/original petition info (in Sep 2022). H4 Visa appointments were scheduled for Dec 1st week in India  (rescheduled from the original dates Apr 2022 with great difficulty and all the changes for reschedule were also used up)

Now, I am planning to change job as my future employer's  H1B Transfer has been approved (last week) and they started chasing me.

The scheduled joining date (05 Dec) with the new employer is clashing with the H4 Visa appointment dates. It is falling between biometric (02 Dec) & visa interview (13 Dec) dates.

Now, I am clueless on what to do.. Please help with the correct option that I should choose from below:

 

(1) Proceed for H4 biometrics & visa interview with existing DS160 with the original petition + carry the new H1B Transfer petition copy (for reference) 

----------- But can they travel to the US on the stamped H4 visas (using earlier/original petition) after I move to the new employer in the US? (I cannot afford to wait for the new set of slots - as I have 3 dependents) 

 

(2) Change and go for the H4 biometrics & visa interview with the revised DS160 with the latest petition + get it linked to the visa appointment + carry the old H1B Transfer petition copy (for reference) 

----------- But, note that, I would not have joined my new company  by the biometric appointment date  or by the visa appointment date (if my joining is delayed for any reason) - More challenging situation is if I had moved out of my current employment and between jobs during that period. 

 

FYI - I can try delaying my exit and hence joining the new employer by few weeks (if this is the best approach). But, not sure which option is the best for H4 Visas (esp. in my situation)

Please advise.

 

Thanks

RK