B1/B2 renewal abroad when H1B is approved but not yet stamped

[a100 0]

Hi,

I do not reside in the US at the moment.

I have an approved H1B petition that I can use to stamp a visa at the local Embassy. However, I'm not going to actually start working for my prospective employer until about February 2014.

At the same time, I need to go to US both for business and personal reasons in a month, to a different state from the one I'd need to go on H1B.

I've had and lawfully used my previous 5 years B1/B2 visa which as of now is expired. I'm qualified for visa renewal (that is, renewing the visa without undergoing the fingerprint scan/interview process) here, outside of the US.

Thus, the question is: is it safe to apply for B1/B2 visa renewal before stamping the H1B? I know having both visas at the same time is not mutually exclusive, but everywhere I was able to read on the Internet on this matter people were already having their B1/B2's before getting H1B approvals. In my case, I want both to have B1/B2 stamped and used at least once prior to stamping H1B and also keep my H1B status intact so that I could stamp it and use it later.

Could anyone in the know comment on this, please?

Many thanks in advance.