H4 Visa Documents Checklist:

• Your spouse’s valid passport
• A copy of your (i.e. the principal applicant’s) passport
• A photograph of your spouse and yourself
• Confirmation page of the DS-160 form with CEAC bar code.
• Visa Fees receipt from the relevant bank
• Copy of the principal applicant’s appointment letter from the employer sponsoring the former’s H-1B
• Copy of principal applicant’s form I-797
• A letter from the principal applicant’s employer clearly stating the nature of relationship between the former and the employer
• Copies of the pay stubs from the principal applicant’s employer
• Original marriage certificate
• Original birth certificates of children
• Consulates often ask for further proof of marriage. Typically these may comprise of any or all of the following, as may be available:
  • A wedding album with several pictures of the wedding showing the principal applicant and the spouse together in many of them
  • Marriage invitation cards
  • Video of the marriage proceedings
  • List of guests invited to the marriage
  • A H4 visa holder is NOT allowed to work in the U.S. This must be clearly understood by your spouse when attending the interview, where the officer will ask you whether he/she will be attempting to take up employment when in the U.S. Your spouse will be denied the visa if the officer feels that your spouse will seek employment once in the U.S.
  • A H4 visa holder is allowed to get a driving license and open and operate bank accounts.
  • A H4 visa holder can also enroll at a U.S university, but he/she cannot take up part time jobs that an F1 visa entitles him/her to.
  • Children under H4 visa do not need an F1 visa to study in U.S schools.
  • While the H4 visa process does not distinguish whether it is the husband or the wife who is applying for the H4 dependency, husbands trying to obtain H4 on their wife’s H-1B often find the process harder, and face many more rejections than wives applying for H4 dependency on H-1B.
• Step 1: File online DS-160 formYour spouse must file a request for a non-immigrant U.S visa using the online DS-160 form. Once processed, your spouse will be summoned for an interview at the consulate listed on the DS-160 form.

  Step 2: Attend the Interview

  There are several documents that your spouse will need to carry with him/her to the interview in order to establish marital status and dependency

  Forum