out of status (but legal waiting for TPS decision). Still elegible for i-485?

[am8084]

My question emerges from the instructions of form i-485 that says the following in page 2:

"10. Who is not elegible to adjust status?
F. You failed to maintain your nonimmigrant status, unless your failure to maintain status was through no fault of your own or for technical reasons."

Here are the details on my status:

I'm currently on J1 (Exchange visitor: physician) that expires Aug/11/2012.
I have obtained a hardship waiver from the 2 years requirement.
The employer I'll work for is working on H1b for me that is not cap excempt, and so will be effective Oct/1/2012.

I plan to stay in the USA after my J1 expires because I have a "temporary protected status" application pending. After talking to 2 attorneies and multiple calls to USCIS I understand that I'll be legal between August and October (waiting for a decision on TPS) but will be without any nonimmigrant status (J1 expires before the H1b effective date).

My questions are:

1. Will I be inelegible for employment based adjustment of status in the future because of falling out of status? or will I be fine bcause "failure to maintain status was through no fault of your own or for technical reasons" which is the unsafe return to my country Syria for which Syria was designated for TPS.

2. Can I use I-539 to extend my status so I don't fall out of status or it does not work for J1 if I don't have further training?

3. Can the same employer apply for another H1b? The details about this questions is as follows:
The current application for H1b is not cap excempt, and that's why the effective date will be Oct/1/2012. The employer told me that one of thier hospitals have residency programs and they can apply for a cap excempt H1b if I do inpatient work in that hospital. I'm thinking of having them process both application so I can get the cap excempt visa before my J1 expires. Can an employer apply for two H1bs if the position is different (outpatient nonexcempt and inpatient excempt)?

[os1982]

I have the same situation. From my understanding, you should be good while on TPS. You don't need to extend J1. In my opinion, the best solution is for your employer to apply for H-1b (with/without cap). It will probably be approved without change of status, meaning you have to leave U.S. to get the Visa stamped. Since U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria is closed temporarily, you have to apply somewhere else. This can be anywhere (Vancouver, Ca or Amman, Jordan). I encourage you to apply for Advance parole before you leave the country. If Visa stamp get delayed, you can come back using the advance parol and work using EAD (I am sure you applied for one based on TPS, this should be valid till Sep 2013).

Please keep us updated ..

[an1222]

I have the same situation. From my understanding, you should be good while on TPS. You don't need to extend J1. In my opinion, the best solution is for your employer to apply for H-1b (with/without cap). It will probably be approved without change of status, meaning you have to leave U.S. to get the Visa stamped. Since U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria is closed temporarily, you have to apply somewhere else. This can be anywhere (Vancouver, Ca or Amman, Jordan). I encourage you to apply for Advance parole before you leave the country. If Visa stamp get delayed, you can come back using the advance parol and work using EAD (I am sure you applied for one based on TPS, this should be valid till Sep 2013).

Please keep us updated ..

I am in similar situation, i am J1 visa which will expire june 30, I have hardship waiver approved and now I am planning to switch J1 to H1.
My question is that can change of status not be done within US and is always subject to consular processing ?