H1 to H4 transfer question - very urgent

[new_sar_member]

Hello,

I am on H1 in the United States with Company A from July 2006. I got my employment terminated with this company in Dec 2008. I have all the pay stubs until Dec 2008 from Company A.Then, I applied for a H1 transfer to Company B by the end of Dec 2008. I got a RFE for this case by the end of Jan 2009. The response date on the RFE is March 6, 2009. After discussions, Company B said they are not going to respond to the RFE because of the current economic conditions and because of some complex questions which might cause issues to the company - which means my case will be eventually dropped.

In this scenario, I decided to apply for H4 COS because my husband is here on H1B. I will do it hopefully by 3rd or 4th March 2009 latest. Now my concerns are this :

-> Company A's H1 is valid until July 2009. I am not sure if they have cancelled my H1 already, if they have - am i currently out of status because my H1 transfer to Company B is pending?

-> For the H4 COS, do i need to apply with my pay-stubs from both Company A(until Dec 2008) and Company B(for Jan and Feb 09) apart from my husband's since i am chaging status from H1?

-> Is it ok if my H4 COS makes it to the USCIS before March 06 2009(RFE resposne date) - will i be in status after the H4 petition reaches USCIS?

-> If company A has cancelled my H1 - my current I-94 is valid until July 2009, will that become invalid?


This is a tough time going on for everyone around here....

Please look into my scenario and help me out.

Thanks,
S.

[Subramanya]

I am on H1 in the United States with Company A from July 2006. I got my employment terminated with this company in Dec 2008. I have all the pay stubs until Dec 2008 from Company A.Then, I applied for a H1 transfer to Company B by the end of Dec 2008. I got a RFE for this case by the end of Jan 2009. The response date on the RFE is March 6, 2009. After discussions, Company B said they are not going to respond to the RFE because of the current economic conditions and because of some complex questions which might cause issues to the company - which means my case will be eventually dropped.

In this scenario, I decided to apply for H4 COS because my husband is here on H1B. I will do it hopefully by 3rd or 4th March 2009 latest. Now my concerns are this :

-> Company A's H1 is valid until July 2009. I am not sure if they have cancelled my H1 already, if they have - am i currently out of status because my H1 transfer to Company B is pending?

---- No, once you have applied for a transfer you are in legal status

-> For the H4 COS, do i need to apply with my pay-stubs from both Company A(until Dec 2008) and Company B(for Jan and Feb 09) apart from my husband's since i am chaging status from H1?

---- Yes, this proves that you were ins tatus and your H4 will be dedpendent on your husbands H1 and his paystubs will prove that he was getting apid regularly

-> Is it ok if my H4 COS makes it to the USCIS before March 06 2009(RFE resposne date) - will i be in status after the H4 petition reaches USCIS?

---- Yes to all of the above

-> If company A has cancelled my H1 - my current I-94 is valid until July 2009, will that become invalid?

---- No. when you apply for the COS from H1 to H4 you will receive a new I-94 and with that you will be legal

Subramanya

[new_sar_member]

Thanks Subramanya

[new_sar_member]

Subramanya,

I have some more questions:

1. Is it going to be a problem applying for a COS from H1 to H4 since my current H1 is still pending?

2. I found out that my previous employer has revoked my H1. When i want to come back into H1 after a year, will i be subject to cap? Because, my only approved and stamped H1 was revoked?

Thanks in advance. Please do reply.

[kxnagarajan]

I think you can ask your new employer to withdraw the H1B Transfer application (that way they don't need to reply for RFE and there won't be any RFE denial in your record). In the meantime you can file for H1B to H4 change of status, that way you can be on legal status.