Can H4 stay in US while H1 is outside on an extended leave for 4 months

[ExtendedLeave]

My husband is currently employed on a H1 visa and I am on a H4 visa. Our current visas(H1 and H4) are valid till January 2013. We are Candadian permanent residents who plan on ultimately applying for green cards and settling down in the US. I am a newbie in this arena and have a few questions that I tried searching answers for but couldn't find anything conclusive and would appreciate any answers

1) For various reasons can I stay back in the country for 4-6 months, while my husband goes back to Canada on the extended unpaid leave for the 4-6 months and comes back? Or if I leave with him now, can I come back after 6 months and stay here for 4-6 months? Are there any rules/regulations that prevent me from doing this. Please note that we live across the border in Canada and travel back/forth via car.

2) My hubby is planning on taking an extended unpaid leave from work( for personal and not health related reasons) and his employer is OK with that. This could be as short as 3 months and could be as long as a year. During this time we will be going back to Canada. Do you know if this will create any issues with immigration currently or in the future? How long can this leave exist?

3) If my husband ultimately comes back to a different job after this unpaid leave, will his chances of getting a visa for that new job be affected?

4) If he wants to take an extended leave do we need to leave the country? Can we take an extended leave and stay in the country? Will we be violating any rules/regulations if we do that?

5) Lets say we want to come back after 6 months, do we need to come back together?

6) If we are in Canada for the next 6 months, can we keep taking weekend trips to visit our families in US?

Would appreciate any information that anyone can provide on this.

Thanks,
ExtendedLeaveApplicant

 

[BigJoe5]

An H-4 is the alien spouse and/or minor child(ren) of any such alien specified in this paragraph (H1-b) if accompanying him or following to join him;

As Canadians, you can easily come and go for short periods without invoking the H visas as long as the principal is not working. That non-work time can be recaptured in the aggregate for future use.

You H status is dependent upon the principal's status. If the principal is not eating up time that counts against the total amount of time allowed, neither should you rack up time against it.

Consult an immigration attorney on future options available and the best way to not waste the principal's H time.