Changing Visa H4 to F-1

[ymakkar]

Hi:
My wife is currently on H-4 visa, currently we are in US. She has got admission in a university and is going to start her program in the Fall of 2006. We were wondering if anyone can guide us about the procedure to change her status from H-4 to F-1. She needs to do it because even though she can attend the school on H-4 and get started, but she can not work and she has been offered an assistantship, so in order to avail this opportunity we need to apply to get her in F-1 status.

Can anyone please guide us in this whethter who shall we contact and what is the time frame for getting the status adjusted.

Thanks

[mahuachakraborty1]

Status change from H4 to F1 within US

Hi

I am also in the same condition as your wife and presently residing in US on H4, joining the State University of NewYork from this Fall with full scholarship and assistantship.

What I would suggest is go through the USCIS website (US Citizenship & Immigration Services) at uscis.gov where all the required info is available.
Meanwhile, ask your wife to talk to the International Student Advisor of her university for getting the I-20 form. As soon as you have the I-20 issued from the university you can apply with other documents to your nearest USCIS Service Center for the status change from H4 to F1.
It takes nearly 2 months as seen from the website.
I shall be applying for the same next month as soon as I get my I-20.

Good luck.

Mahua.