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Hello,
I am a postdoctoral fellow in the US with a H1B visa for the last 2 years. My job is supposed to end on December 21st and I have been applying for faculty positions. Due to a paperwork glitch and bureaucracy at my work place, I am not allowed to extend my postdoctoral job appointment even though I have an interview on 24th of January in Albany, NY. Typically, academic jobs start in July with a year long process for application/interview.
I am trying to stay in the US either by transferring my H1B visa to another employer (plan A) or by converting to a business/tourist visa (plan B) so that I can attend my interview and any other interviews that come up (I expect to hear from a few universities in the months of Dec-Feb). The lab has agreed to make me a visiting scientist and would be able to give me per diem kind of salary if I am able to convert to a B1 visa. I would like to know the intricacies of this conversion process and I have the following questions:
1) To convert to a B1 visa, what kind of paperwork would I need from the lab? In other words, will I need some documents from them supporting the fact that I will be a visiting scientist here during the next few months (I expect to not be here in this status more than April-July)?
2) My understanding is I have to apply for the B1 visa before the H1B visa expires in order to do the conversion while staying in the states (form I-539). Is this right?
3) Once I apply for the B1 visa, I cannot work as the visiting scientist until my visa is approved. Is this right?
4) I also read in the forums that applying for B1 from H1B (or instead of H1B) is dicey because of misuse of the B1 visa by IT companies. Given my situation, do you think I should apply for the business visa or a tourist visa?
5) Also, do you think I should just contact an immigration lawyer, and if so, what is a good way to figure out the quality of an immigration lawyer (or which lawyer to contact in my area - NM)?
Thanks for your help,
Anurag
I am a postdoctoral fellow in the US with a H1B visa for the last 2 years. My job is supposed to end on December 21st and I have been applying for faculty positions. Due to a paperwork glitch and bureaucracy at my work place, I am not allowed to extend my postdoctoral job appointment even though I have an interview on 24th of January in Albany, NY. Typically, academic jobs start in July with a year long process for application/interview.
I am trying to stay in the US either by transferring my H1B visa to another employer (plan A) or by converting to a business/tourist visa (plan B) so that I can attend my interview and any other interviews that come up (I expect to hear from a few universities in the months of Dec-Feb). The lab has agreed to make me a visiting scientist and would be able to give me per diem kind of salary if I am able to convert to a B1 visa. I would like to know the intricacies of this conversion process and I have the following questions:
1) To convert to a B1 visa, what kind of paperwork would I need from the lab? In other words, will I need some documents from them supporting the fact that I will be a visiting scientist here during the next few months (I expect to not be here in this status more than April-July)?
2) My understanding is I have to apply for the B1 visa before the H1B visa expires in order to do the conversion while staying in the states (form I-539). Is this right?
3) Once I apply for the B1 visa, I cannot work as the visiting scientist until my visa is approved. Is this right?
4) I also read in the forums that applying for B1 from H1B (or instead of H1B) is dicey because of misuse of the B1 visa by IT companies. Given my situation, do you think I should apply for the business visa or a tourist visa?
5) Also, do you think I should just contact an immigration lawyer, and if so, what is a good way to figure out the quality of an immigration lawyer (or which lawyer to contact in my area - NM)?
Thanks for your help,
Anurag
