H1 to H4 Conversion Question Urgent !!

[shobhit309]

Hello All,

I and my wife work for the same employer and are on H1 visas. Now due to some personal reasons my spouse wishes to go on H4 status but my employer is insisting that she needs to travel back to India and then only change of status could be processed. I have the following questions regarding the current situation -

1. Can COS filed here in US itself with the help of attorney once she resigns from the current company?

2. Is it necessary to go back to India to get H1 to H4 done?

3. Once COS is filed, can she still work until its approved ?

Answers to these questions would greatly help.

[h4221g]

Hello All,

I and my wife work for the same employer and are on H1 visas. Now due to some personal reasons my spouse wishes to go on H4 status but my employer is insisting that she needs to travel back to India and then only change of status could be processed. I have the following questions regarding the current situation -

1. Can COS filed here in US itself with the help of attorney once she resigns from the current company?

2. Is it necessary to go back to India to get H1 to H4 done?

3. Once COS is filed, can she still work until its approved ?

Answers to these questions would greatly help.

I did an H1 to H4 conversion last year. If you are willing to pay for the H4 yourself (around 290 $), then I believe you can do it on your own without the help of an attorney. I can't remember the exact details, but I think I filled in the I-539 for change of status from H1 to H4, sent it to USCIS and received the new status in about a month or so. Since I wasn't sure about the transition from H1, I asked my employer to terminate my H1 only after I received my H4. I did not want to take a chance of going out of status. It is a relatively easy procedure. You do not need to go back to India. When you do visit India, you will of course have to get the H4 visa stamped to reenter the US.