H4 and H1 filing together

[axaa]

Hi All,
My fiancée is in India. She has worked in Europe for few years and now a company in US is planning to apply for her H1 on April 1, 2007 that will start on Oct 1. I am on H1 and will leave for India to get married in the last week of June. On June 28 we plan to take the H4 visa date. So the plan will be:

April 1 -> H1 application and it will be in progress around (~may be) August 07 till the I-797 is issued.

June 28 -> H4 application & Stamp

After coming to US the status would be:

July 1- Sept 30 -> H4

Oct 1 -> H1

Two Scenarios may arise:

1. By June 28 the H1 /I-797 is issued (i.e. Filing H4 after H1 is approved - meaning having H4 and H1 at the same time on June 29.)


2. By June 28 the H1 /I-797 is not issued (i.e. Filing H4 while H1 processing is in progress)


Are both these scenarios legitimate in the eyes of USCIS?

Your comments would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[bk2]

Re:

HI axaa,
Did you get any info on ur questions? I am in the same boat and would appreciate if you can share any info regarding this issue.
Thanks

[Subramanya]

H1 and H4 issues

My fiancée is in India. She has worked in Europe for few years and now a company in US is planning to apply for her H1 on April 1, 2007 that will start on Oct 1. I am on H1 and will leave for India to get married in the last week of June. On June 28 we plan to take the H4 visa date. So the plan will be:

April 1 -> H1 application and it will be in progress around (~may be) August 07 till the I-797 is issued.

June 28 -> H4 application & Stamp

After coming to US the status would be:

July 1- Sept 30 -> H4

Oct 1 -> H1

Two Scenarios may arise:

1. By June 28 the H1 /I-797 is issued (i.e. Filing H4 after H1 is approved - meaning having H4 and H1 at the same time on June 29.)


2. By June 28 the H1 /I-797 is not issued (i.e. Filing H4 while H1 processing is in progress)


Are both these scenarios legitimate in the eyes of USCIS?

---- Once an H1 is issued, you have to seek a Visa for H1 and then enter US as you are applying for H1 from outside the country

---- If your wife atttends the Visa interview for H4 and after coming to US the H1 gets approved, then she may have to go out of the country and get the H1 Visa to reenter US

---- In the bargain, it is better to get the H1 Visa issued at a US Consulate in India and then come to US and she can continue to stay on H1 status

Subramanya

[axaa]

HI axaa,
Did you get any info on ur questions? I am in the same boat and would appreciate if you can share any info regarding this issue.
Thanks

Hi B2K,
I did get the answer after consulting the lawyer.
1. Yes, you can file H1 on April 1 and then later file H4 in june, regardless I797 is approved before June.

2. The change of status from h4 to H1 is not automatic in this case.( Unlike Masters student going form F1 to H1..assuming you did masters in US ?)

3.In order to have your sposue working oct 1 you can chage the status in 2 ways :
A. File change of status using I129 , as good as filing new application. Employers are sometimes uwilling to do this. You cannot file I 539.
B. Go outside of US, get the visa stamped and then the change of status occurs.

I will be going for option B .

Hope this helps .