Change Of Status - H4 to H1B

[praveenagarwal]

Hi,

Me and my wife both are in US right now. I am on H1B (valid till Dec,2017 and can be extended till Dec,2020) and she is on H4. I want to file COS for my wife (H4 to H1B) next year (April 2017). She got an employer who is willing to file COS for her. But my concerns are as follows :

1. As she is filing her H1B for the first time, will COS undergo through lottery(65k Cap) or there is no cap for COS?
2. If she want to visit India Feb,2017 for 4/5 Months will that impact her chances to get her H1B?


Any response would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Praveen

[raghvi]

Hi,

Me and my wife both are in US right now. I am on H1B (valid till Dec,2017 and can be extended till Dec,2020) and she is on H4. I want to file COS for my wife (H4 to H1B) next year (April 2017). She got an employer who is willing to file COS for her. But my concerns are as follows :

1. As she is filing her H1B for the first time, will COS undergo through lottery(65k Cap) or there is no cap for COS?
2. If she want to visit India Feb,2017 for 4/5 Months will that impact her chances to get her H1B?


Any response would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Praveen

Visa, Petition and status are three different things.

1.COS can be applied if one already has an approved petition and is in US. In order to get an approved petition one first needs to go through Cap, if there is lottery then one needs to go through lottery. Short answer , Yes.
2. It may not impact her chances of H1 , it will certainly impact her COS. For COS to be approved one needs to be in US.

This is my opinion not legal advice.