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URGENT HELP ; h1b to f1 denied because of i94 expiration.

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  • URGENT HELP ; h1b to f1 denied because of i94 expiration.

    Hello,
    I lost employment early may. I have been going to school while i was on h1b and i only have a semester left. My h1b expired on end of may. my i94 expired on middle of june. Based on recommendation by intl advisor, I applied for COS for Fall semester as soon as my employment ended (within two days).

    I received letter of denial last week stating that since my i94 expired on mid june and my semester only starts mid august, there is more than 1 month gap during which time i was out of status, which is not allowed by law. It says that by law I can be in US no early than 1 month prior to start of school. I was under impression that as long as I file for COS before expiration of my H1B/i94, the expiration date should not matter because the case is pending. The letter does not say I have to leave in 1 day or 30 days.

    What are my options at this point? Also, Should I go back and file for f1, or should i stay here and file for MTR?

    Any of you have some experience regarding this? Also, if I were to go back in my home country and reapply for F1, is it better to put myself as a sponsor and show my US bank statement (I have more than enought funding for the school), or should I put my elder brother who has a GC and is currently working? Would putting my brother as sponsor/co-sponsor be against my favor (since he has GC , Home, and good job, maybe the counsulate will assume that i'll be more inclined to stay at US)?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated. tHANKS

  • #2
    Change of staus should be applied before the current I-94 expires. Just applying for a COS doesn't give you a valid status to stay in the country. If the COS is approved, then you are all good. If it gets denied (like in your case), then the date on which I-94 expired to the date until which you remain in the country will be treated as illegal stay. I don't think filing an MTR will help in your case as your semester starts only in mid of August.

    You should leave the country immediately, get your F1 stamped and re-enter in F1 status right before the semester starts. The more the illegal stay, the more problems when you attend the visa interview the next time.
    Not a legal advice. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk.

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    • #3
      F1 has special rules. F1 status starts only 30 days before the school start date on I-20. So even if you applied for COS before your I-94 expired and you were allowed to stay based on the pending petition, USCIS could not approve your petition because of the gap between F1 start date and I-94 expiry. You need to go back to home country, get an F1 visa and enter using that visa within 30 days of class start date.
      This is my opinion and not legal advice.

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