AOS submitted, no receipt number yet, end date is fast approaching -- PLEASE ADVICE

[do_good_work]

My wife is a US citizen and I am a citizen of India. We have been married for 14 months. At the moment we are in a tight spot with our adjustment of status application, going from h1b to marriage based permanent residency.

We would immensely appreciate if people in the immihelp forum can share their suggestions for our situation:

Key dates:

• 01 Oct 2014 = h1b start date when issued
• 30 Aug 2017 = h1b end date when issued
• 30 Aug 2018 = h1b end date after 1st extension
• 22 Aug 2020 = h1b end date after 2nd extension (current h1b end date)
• ====
• 01 Jun 2019 = date of marriage
• 24 Jun 2020 = first submitted greencard / adjustment of status complete package, that is, I-485, I-130, I-944, I-765, I-131 and more.
• 14 Jul 2020 = got rejection notice because there was a missing signature in I-944
• 15 Jul 2020 = resubmitted full greencard package again, after fixing the missing signature
• ====
• 07 Oct 2023 = end date on my b1/b2 visa stamp on old passport that expired in year 2018

My h1b end date of 22nd Aug 2020 is fast approaching, and we have not yet got a receipt number from USCIS for our greencard application, which was resubmitted after fixing the missing signature on 14th Jul 2020.

Neither of us acted on immigration related paperwork in time, because of which it now looks like we might have to live in separate countries for many months. This would be really bad timing for us, given how we were planning to start a family this year.

Some questions we have are as follows:

1. If we do not hear back in time, what options do my wife and I have, that allow us to stay together? Are there any options other than the ones listed below that we are not considering or are aware of?
2. If I fly back to India, she cannot join me because currently India is only allowing Indian passport or OCI card holders to fly in. So we are considering this as our last option.
3. We considered both of us going away to a 3rd country for sometime, like say Kenya, where there is visa on arrival for both of us. Would doing so impact our greencard application detrimentally? Because in the application we checked the option that we are both currently in the US.
4. To maintain legal status, can just I go out of the U.S. and come back in on the b1/b2 visa? But even though my b1/b2 is valid till year 2023 that stamp is on my old passport which expired in year 2018.
5. Should I ask my employer to file an h1b extension? My employer had asked me about it in late 2019 and I had said that wouldn't be necessary because we will soon apply for a marriage based greencard for me. Can my employer even file an h1b extension request now that I have been on h1b for 6 years? Is USCIS even accepting h1b extensions? Would there be an issue if we have an active h1b extension application with USCIS at the same time as an active marriage based greencard application?

Thank you for reading through this and for any suggestions / advice you might have.

[newacct]

Just stay in the US and wait. First, your application was delivered well before your status expired, and the official received date should be no later than a few days from when it was delivered. You just don't know what the exact date is until you get the receipt. But it is pretty certain that it was before your status expired. Second, even in the highly unlikely chance your application is received after your status expired, it wouldn't matter. In your category (the Immediate Relative category), you don't need to be in status to file Adjustment of Status; you could have overstayed for years and it would not make a difference for your I-485 eligibility.

You can't get an H1b extension beyond 6 years unless your employer is petitioning you for employment-based immigration. Your employer might be able to get an extension to recapture the days when you were outside the US, but that will probably only get a very short time at best. The only reason to get an H1b extension would be to continue working for a little longer, as otherwise you would have to stop working when your H1b status expires, until you get your AOS-based EAD a few months later.

[do_good_work]

Just stay in the US and wait .... In your category (the Immediate Relative category), you don't need to be in status to file Adjustment of Status; you could have overstayed for years and it would not make a difference for your I-485 eligibility

If this is true, that's awesome, and very helpful. Thank you for sharing :-)

Are there USCIS links pointing to such info as well? Or some other "official example" that can give us even more confidence in overstaying in case a receipt number does not come in time.

I only ask because going ahead we do not want past legal lapses to inhibit us. Especially because I am keen to start multiple software and film companies, spanning both India and the US. I have already put in much ground work towards such entrepreneurial work, and I am also very vocal in the socio-political and community spheres.

[verbose]

Here is the link:

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-b-chapter-8