Need urgent help: I-539 approved by USCIS instead of marking it as abandoned

[heet_pink]

Hi,

I am in a very weird situation and I want to know what are my options here.

I filed the I-539 Change of Status application for my wife from H-1B to H-4 in March-2015. She never left the job and she was maintaining valid H-1B status while I-539 was pending. Meanwhile, she had to travel out of U.S. for family medical emergency from May-2015 to Jul-2015. She returned to U.S. on H-1B status in Jul-2015 and since then she was maintaining the H-1B status and earning salary. This month (Oct-2015) she again had to travel back to our home country for the family medical emergency and she is right now out of U.S.
She would be returning to U.S. in Nov-2015 (next month) and continue working for her employer.

Now the weird situation is, since she traveled out of U.S. (from May to July) while her I-539 was still pending, we thought that it would be considered abandoned by USCIS. However, I just got approval notice in mail today saying that her pending I-539 is approved!!! I am not sure how come USCIS did not notice that she left the country while I-539 was pending.

We certainly know that this I-539 is approved by USCIS in error. My wife wants to return to U.S. next month and continue with her current job on H-1B. What are our options here?

1. Can she just enter in U.S. since she already has valid H-1B visa?
2. Can she convince the officer at port of entry that the USCIS approved I-539 by mistake?
3. Does she need to re-enter in U.S. with H-4 visa now?

Thanks,
Ronak

[shervin143]

I am in a very weird situation and I want to know what are my options here.

I filed the I-539 Change of Status application for my wife from H-1B to H-4 in March-2015. She never left the job and she was maintaining valid H-1B status while I-539 was pending. Meanwhile, she had to travel out of U.S. for family medical emergency from May-2015 to Jul-2015. She returned to U.S. on H-1B status in Jul-2015 and since then she was maintaining the H-1B status and earning salary. This month (Oct-2015) she again had to travel back to our home country for the family medical emergency and she is right now out of U.S.
She would be returning to U.S. in Nov-2015 (next month) and continue working for her employer.

Now the weird situation is, since she traveled out of U.S. (from May to July) while her I-539 was still pending, we thought that it would be considered abandoned by USCIS. However, I just got approval notice in mail today saying that her pending I-539 is approved!!! I am not sure how come USCIS did not notice that she left the country while I-539 was pending.
>>> Well, this is not new. Mistakes like these have happened.

We certainly know that this I-539 is approved by USCIS in error. My wife wants to return to U.S. next month and continue with her current job on H-1B. What are our options here?
>>> Since she is currently outside U.S, she will have no impact due to this approval. She can enter U.Sin H1B visa and keep working.

1. Can she just enter in U.S. since she already has valid H-1B visa?
>>> Yes.

2. Can she convince the officer at port of entry that the USCIS approved I-539 by mistake?
>>> Not necessary. She just need to show her H1B vis and petition at the POE and enter in H1B status, No need to mention anything about H4 of I-539 approval.

3. Does she need to re-enter in U.S. with H-4 visa now?
>>> Nope. Enterin H1B and begin working. Search and read about the last action rule.