F1 and H4 approved in one day gap

[rayan_b]

I applied for H4 extension along with my husband h1 b extension in 2009 sept through regular processing.my current h4 visa expires on 2010 jan 22.
I got admission to one of the university on jan 17th and so i applied for change of status from h4 to f1 on jan 21 2010.On Feb 16 2010 my h4 to f1 cos has been approved and i received the documents with new I 94 .On Feb 18th i also got email from uscis that my husbands h1 and my h4 extension were approved

I am planning to attend school from march 1st.Can any one tell me on which visa i am currently in.Is it F 1 or H 4.I have both approved now.

[shervin143]

Read about the last action rule in the forum. Your status will change to whatever approval you received last.

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For people with both F1 and H4 petitions have been approved

My husband got laid off in January 2011, and was out of job until early March 2012. The new company filed a H1B (extension) in March 2012, and I had applied for H4 extension (with spouse's H1B) in March 2012.

In the meantime, I got admitted to a PhD program with full scholarship by end of March. After gathering all documentation, I applied for a F-1 visa around mid-April.

My husband got a RFE for some basic documents (ID card, timesheets, client letter) by May 28th, and submitted documents through his employer around June first week or so. Around the same time (around June 1st-2nd week), we sent a letter to withdraw H4 petition with explanation of a concurrent F1 petition.

Around June 20th, 2012 - I received my F1 visa approval (valid from July 7, 2012 till Duration of Status as end date).

In the meantime, on June 28th, 2012 - I received my H4 petition approval as well (valid from June 22, 2012 till Feb 28, 2015).

So I knew about the "last action rule", and called USCIS. The USCIS representative apologized and mentioned that it was "their" mistake, but still asked me to get an InfoPass appointment to get it clarified with a Visa official. So I booked the Info Pass appointment for July 3, 2012.


UPDATE:

Went to the USCIS Field Office (Atlanta). The visa officer said that I don't need to worry about it since I have sent the withdrawal letter, and to just start school as per I-20. She didn't even look at my documents ; she gave me the response after I explained the situation.

This is my experience, doesn't necessarily need to be yours. But my suggestion for people with both F1 and H4 approved - AND have sent a withdrawal for one of the approved visas -- is to confirm with USCIS by either phone or taking an InfoPass appointment (or you can do both like I did).

Just my 2 cents...