URGENT!!! H4 to H1 to H4

[drhnp]

My wife was on H4 since 1999 and has a visa on her passport which expires in june 2005. Meanwhile, she got a job and converted to H1 in 2004, went outside the country and had an H1 visa stsamped. The consulate did not cross out her H4. She is quitting so but the company is not cancelling her visa So:

1 Can she go back on H4?
2 Is the original H4 visa still valid and can be used for travel?
3 Does she go out of status since she is quitting today?

Any input appriciated

 

[us visa]

Hey, your wife cannot go back to using her H-4 visa without applying for a change of status to H-4 from H-1. Going by the "last action doctrine," which states that the last action taken be the USCIS controls, your wifes current status is H-1 and she will be violating her status if she stops working. Hence, I think she should first apply for a change of status and then quit.

Hope this helps!!

 

[atmaram]

URGENT!!! H4-H1-H4 continued...

Hey, your wife cannot go back to using her H-4 visa without applying for a change of status to H-4 from H-1. Going by the "last action doctrine," which states that the last action taken be the USCIS controls, your wifes current status is H-1 and she will be violating her status if she stops working. Hence, I think she should first apply for a change of status and then quit.

Hope this helps!!

I don't mean to hijack OP's thread, but I think my question concerns OP too. If OP's wife after quitting her job, plans to fly to India and apply for a new H4 visa at the US Consulate, does she still need to apply for I-539 Change of Status (from H1 to H4) and be approved before she leaves for India?

In other words if OP's wife is already planning to visit India, can she change her status to H4 and get H4 visa directly at the US Consulate in India (and save some money by not spending on Change of Status H1->H4, Lawyer fees, courier fees, etc here in the US)?



If she does need to apply for change of status in the US, what are the complications if the approval arrives after she has already left for India?

Many thanks!