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Hi guys,
Just a little background, for the first time, I came to USA in January 2002 on F1 visa. Attended school and graduated in December 2004. Started working on OPT in 2005 and later my H1 got approved. I left USA in Dec 2006 (having worked on H1 for less than 2 years) and got my H1 stamped on my passport from Pakistan with an expiry of Jan 9th 2009 but I never re-entered USA on that H1 as I was held back due to some family emergency. On Jan 16th 2015, I entered USA with my wife on a B2 visa with an I-94 expiry of 15th July 2015. While being in the USA, a company filed for my H1 which was not picked in the lottery (at-least that’s what I know since I didn’t even receive a receipt number). In the meantime, I got an I-20(with semester starting date of June 29th) from a school in USA and applied (not electronically/mailed the application to Vermont Center) for change of status (I-539) from B2 to F1 which was received by USCIS on 30th April. On June 5th, I called USCIS and requested to expedite my application. In response to this request, I received an email on June 8th mentioning that my request to expedite the case was denied mentioning “it does not meet the criteria for special handling”. Now the question is whether I should stay in U.S till I hear the decision on my Change of status from b2 to f1( which may be AFTER my i94 expires on July 15th 2015), or should I return to Pakistan and apply for an F1 from there? Is there any other way of staying in the U.S legally of course, if I wish you avoid the cost and hassle of a trip back home? I'm also worried about the fact that my wait for the COS can backfire as "illegal stay" in the immigration record forever if my change of status is denied?
Thanks!
Haider
Just a little background, for the first time, I came to USA in January 2002 on F1 visa. Attended school and graduated in December 2004. Started working on OPT in 2005 and later my H1 got approved. I left USA in Dec 2006 (having worked on H1 for less than 2 years) and got my H1 stamped on my passport from Pakistan with an expiry of Jan 9th 2009 but I never re-entered USA on that H1 as I was held back due to some family emergency. On Jan 16th 2015, I entered USA with my wife on a B2 visa with an I-94 expiry of 15th July 2015. While being in the USA, a company filed for my H1 which was not picked in the lottery (at-least that’s what I know since I didn’t even receive a receipt number). In the meantime, I got an I-20(with semester starting date of June 29th) from a school in USA and applied (not electronically/mailed the application to Vermont Center) for change of status (I-539) from B2 to F1 which was received by USCIS on 30th April. On June 5th, I called USCIS and requested to expedite my application. In response to this request, I received an email on June 8th mentioning that my request to expedite the case was denied mentioning “it does not meet the criteria for special handling”. Now the question is whether I should stay in U.S till I hear the decision on my Change of status from b2 to f1( which may be AFTER my i94 expires on July 15th 2015), or should I return to Pakistan and apply for an F1 from there? Is there any other way of staying in the U.S legally of course, if I wish you avoid the cost and hassle of a trip back home? I'm also worried about the fact that my wait for the COS can backfire as "illegal stay" in the immigration record forever if my change of status is denied?
Thanks!
Haider
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