AOS and H1-B expiration issue

[golubika]

Hi all,

I need some help, please:
My husband is currently on a H1B visa. He has been in the United States for 7 years. The company he works for filed for his green card 2 years ago but that hasn’t come through yet (it may take another year or two apparently!) and is currently on a H1B extension that expires at the end of the month. At this time, the company he works for is about to file for yet another 1 year extension on his H1B petition.


Now, I am a US citizen so I understand we can apply for his Adjustment of Status in parallel (we’ve been married for 2 ½ years).

Many of the forms we have to fill out (say I-485 and I-130) ask for the date of expiration of his I-94 (which is sometime towards the end of Feb 2006). They also ask for a copy of his US visa (which also has an end of Feb 2006 expiration date).

The question that I have is:

Do we have to have his US visa renewed BEFORE we can file for his Adjustment of Status?

The law firm that is dealing with his H1B extension says that the date on his passport does not matter as long as his request for extension is filled before his visa expires. That might be fine but it doesn’t solve the underlying problem: how do we fill out these forms? What dates do we use? And how about the copies of his Visa and I-94? Does it matter that they will have expired by the time USCIS comes to look into these documents?

I thank you in advance for your help,

golubika

[ari4u]

Originally Posted by golubika

Hi all,

I need some help, please:
My husband is currently on a H1B visa. He has been in the United States for 7 years. The company he works for filed for his green card 2 years ago but that hasn’t come through yet (it may take another year or two apparently!) and is currently on a H1B extension that expires at the end of the month. At this time, the company he works for is about to file for yet another 1 year extension on his H1B petition.


Now, I am a US citizen so I understand we can apply for his Adjustment of Status in parallel (we’ve been married for 2 ½ years).

Many of the forms we have to fill out (say I-485 and I-130) ask for the date of expiration of his I-94 (which is sometime towards the end of Feb 2006). They also ask for a copy of his US visa (which also has an end of Feb 2006 expiration date).



The question that I have is:

Do we have to have his US visa renewed BEFORE we can file for his Adjustment of Status?
Not necessarily. If he can submit his AOS application and get a RD/ND before his I-94 expiry date, he should be fine as he would come under a legal status called "Pending AOS" status. But.... in order to work, he would require an EAD. Since his H1 is expiring and EAD would take 30-90 days to get approved, he might not have employment authorization for a while.

The law firm that is dealing with his H1B extension says that the date on his passport does not matter as long as his request for extension is filled before his visa expires. That might be fine but it doesn’t solve the underlying problem:
how do we fill out these forms?
What dates do we use?
And how about the copies of his Visa and I-94?
What do you mean?
Does it matter that they will have expired by the time USCIS comes to look into these documents?
As long as you get a RD/ND which is before the I-94 expiry date, everything is fine.

I thank you in advance for your help,

golubika