Q & A June 15, 2003
Q & A 1
Dear
Mr. Lee:
My husband has an H1-B status and now is applying for the Labor
Certification. For some reasons, he got the LC from a different
state. I currently have an H-4 status, and am worried about my status.
I was in an H1-B status for three years before changing to an H-4.
My husband’s first 3-year petition will expire in December this
year, and same as mine.
Questions:
- Can I extend
another 3 years for my H-4 status?
- Is an H status
valid only for 6 years? If so, can I apply for F-1 again when
my H-4 expires?
- Besides applying
for F-1, can I apply for any other visa?
Chan
Dear reader:
- Under INS
interpretations, individuals can only spend six years cumulative
in the U.S. under either H-1 or H-4 statuses. You are only eligible
to extend H-4 status until the end of your sixth year under either
H-1B/H-4 status.
- Yes, H-1B/H-4
status is only valid for six years. Individuals are allowed seventh
years in certain circumstances, but such would not seem to apply
to you at this time, e.g.- in the event that your husband is nearing
the end of his sixth year and is the beneficiary of a labor certification
application which has been pending for at least 365 days or of
an I-140 immigrant visa petition based on employment, he would
be eligible to apply for a seventh year. When your H-4 is expiring,
you can apply for F-1 status again, and it would be in the discretion
of the BCIS as to whether such status would be granted. It would
certainly help your application if the BCIS examiner could see
some sense in your going back to school. For example, it would
not be too convincing to present a language school I-20 school
acceptance form to the BCIS where you already graduated from a
U.S. school with an undergraduate or graduate degree.
- There may
be other non-immigrant statuses for which you may be eligible,
but such would require an in-depth look at your individual situation.
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