Entering the US on a Visa Waiver Program immediately after my H-1B expires?

[axaxaxasmloe]

My H-1B expires in a few days. However I have a contract with my employer (a university) for another year. My employer has months ago applied for an extension, but the necessary documents from USCIS will arrive too late for me to stay in the country. Hence I plan to depart the US to Canada. My employer expects that the I-797 will be ready by middle of September.

Since I am a citizen of a Schengen country, I can enter the US on a Visa Waiver program. My plan is to return to the US in this way basically immediately after leaving it (thereby changing from H-1B status to Visitor status).

My wife and my daughter are living in US and I would like to stay with them until my H-1B papers are ready (so about 3-4 weeks). Once I have the I-797 petition, I will leave the US, get my passport stamped at the next US consulate and return to the US on an H-1B status.

This seems to be in principle possible, but are there any problems I might encounter? I understand that the immigration officer might be more critical than usual. Will the explanation above suffice to be admitted to the US? Note: Since I have stayed the last 3 years in the US and expect to stay another year (with the H-1B), I don't have a house or a job in Germany. Are there some explanations I should avoid with the immigration officer?

[daggit]

Since I am a citizen of a Schengen country, I can enter the US on a Visa Waiver program. My plan is to return to the US in this way basically immediately after leaving it (thereby changing from H-1B status to Visitor status).

If you reenter the US on a Visa Waiver program, be aware that you would not be authorized to work or conduct other activities not permitted on a visitor status.