b2 to f1 change in status, what does 30 days before the initial F1 program start mean

[aakanshya]

Hello,

Your current status will expire more than 30 days before the initial F1 program start date. USCIS will only approve your Form I-539 change of status request if you are maintaining your B-1/B-2 status up to 30 days before your program?s initial start date. If your status will expire more than 30 days before your F-1 program?s initial start date, you must file a second Form I-539 requesting to extend your B-1/B-2 status.


Can someone explain to me what this means?


Thanks in advance.

[paase]

It has been a while since I started my program, but I remember a stipulation when first entering the country to begin your program - the earliest you can arrive in the US is 30 days before the program start date on your I-20. Without knowing anything about B-1/B-2 visa, I would guess that the message below states that your B-1/B-2 expires before the 30-day window you have prior to your program start date when you can be legally present in this country under F-1 visa. IF this is in fact true, they are saying that you are going to have to extend you B-1/B-2 status.

Hello,

Your current status will expire more than 30 days before the initial F1 program start date. USCIS will only approve your Form I-539 change of status request if you are maintaining your B-1/B-2 status up to 30 days before your program?s initial start date. If your status will expire more than 30 days before your F-1 program?s initial start date, you must file a second Form I-539 requesting to extend your B-1/B-2 status.


Can someone explain to me what this means?


Thanks in advance.

[newacct]

Hello,

Your current status will expire more than 30 days before the initial F1 program start date. USCIS will only approve your Form I-539 change of status request if you are maintaining your B-1/B-2 status up to 30 days before your program?s initial start date. If your status will expire more than 30 days before your F-1 program?s initial start date, you must file a second Form I-539 requesting to extend your B-1/B-2 status.


Can someone explain to me what this means?


Thanks in advance.

It's the somewhat ridiculous USCIS policy for Change of Status from B2 to F1.

Basically, F1 status can start no earlier than 30 days before the start of the program. So to do a Change of Status to F1, your previous status must last until 30 days before the start of your program. So suppose your B2 status does last until 30 days before the start of your school term; then you just file I-539 for Change of Status and everything is good, right? Wrong. The problem is that I-539 takes something like 4-5 months to process, and you cannot start studying until the Change of Status is approved. So unless you file about half a year before your school starts (which would require you to file at the very beginning of your B2 status, since it usually lasts 6 months), you are going to miss your program start date. When you miss the program start date, the school will amend the start date to a later date (and it may potentially have to postpone it multiple times, depending on how long your I-539 is pending). The really nasty part of the USCIS policy is that, if your start date gets postponed due to I-539 being pending, you must be in status 30 days before the new, later start date. So even though your B2 status originally lasted long enough (up to 30 days before the original start date), because they took so long to process your I-539, your B2 status might not last long enough for the new, later start date. (So your Change of Status might get denied because they took so long to process it.) So basically, your B2 status must last until several months after you file I-539 in order for it to work. What if your original B2 status doesn't last that long? Their solution is that you must also file another I-539 (and pay the fee a second time) for a B-2 Extension of Status, to extend your B2 status so it will last long enough for your Change of Status to go through.

It would be much simpler and faster to just leave the US and apply for an F1 visa.