Do I need to renew H4?

E

EAC03125

Registered Users (C)
Our I-140 was approved and I-485s were filed last March. My husband's H-1 expires on Oct. 1st. So do my daughter's and my H4. He is going to renew his H1. I have been using EAD to work for one year and will be doing so in the future. Do I need to renew my H4? Does my daughter need to renew hers?

Thank you very much.
 
I guess that you can't and you don't have to. Since you use EAD working for one year, you lost non-immigrant status so you can't extend your H4(non-immigrant visa) but you are legal since you filed I-485. Just keep renewing your EAD until your I485 is approved. Hope that your husband still uses H1 to work, otherwise he can't extend H1 but still can work using EAD.

Originally posted by EAC03125
Our I-140 was approved and I-485s were filed last March. My husband's H-1 expires on Oct. 1st. So do my daughter's and my H4. He is going to renew his H1. I have been using EAD to work for one year and will be doing so in the future. Do I need to renew my H4? Does my daughter need to renew hers?

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
 
Can anybody verify this?

But I called a lawyer. She said H4 is my status. EAD is just a work permission. If our I485 get rejected, my status will be discontinued.

My husband has EAD too. But he still keeps his H1.

Also, if I don't need to renew H4, does my daughter need to renew her H4?

I appraciate any information.
 
I think you and your daughter both need to renew your H-4s because as long as your husband is on H-1 you can fall back on H-4 from EAD.

Your lawyer is right on the money if for some reason I-485 doesn't go through you will still be able to maintain status through H-4 as long as your husband keeps H-1.
 
if 485 is denied what will be the status

if a person is on 7th year ext. h1

and family is on h4 based on the 7th year ext.
 
The attorney is incorrect. The H-4 spouse cannot renew her status, because she has no H-4 status to renew. That went poof the instant she used her EAD to work, since employment is a violation of H-4 status. (It's not illegal, since she had an EAD, just incompatible with the H-4).

Therefore, she should not waste money attempting to renew the H-4. She must renew the EAD so long as she remains employed; once she ceases employment the I-485 filing keeps her in legal status.

For the daughter, they can renew the H-4 if she isn't working, since it serves as a re-entry document just like AP. (However, since this is a 7th year H-1, the H-4 would only be good for 1 year, so I would file AP if the I-131 filing fee is lower than the I-539 filing fee.)

Regarding what would happen if the adjustment was denied, the wife would be out of status. However, since 7th year Hs are predicated on a pending GC application, having an H to fall back on wouldn't be much help either. Besides, as long as there's no funny business with the adjustment I wouldn't spend much time worrying about denial.
 
This is what Attorney Murthy has to say:

Chat User : Is it possible to apply for a 7th-year H-1 extension for my H-4 wife and me or when the EAD is already in use?

Attorney Murthy : It may be possible to file an H1B and H-4 extension as long as a person plans to go back and work with the H1B employer and no longer use the EAD. Part of the problem with the Legacy INS Memos from March and May 2000 was that a person could be on EAD or enter as a parolee on the AP but still extend the H1B if certain conditions are satisfied. On the other hand, there are a lot of issues that are not clear, so there is some confusion or lack of clarity on many issues regarding EADs and H1B extensions, etc

From here it seems that your lawyer may know the exact conditions whether you will be able to get the extension or not. Also on the other hand as RealCanadian said it may not be very beneficial to get 7th year extension if I-485 gets denied.

I think it makes sense to get extension because if I-485 gets denied you are out of status right away but if you have extension then you are in status until that extension expires. On the other hand if your husband has one more labor in process which gets more than one year old before your extension expires then you can apply for another extension on the basis of that labor.
 
Originally posted by PremChopra
It may be possible to file an H1B and H-4 extension as long as a person plans to go back and work with the H1B employer and no longer use the EAD.
Click to expand...

PremChopra, this makes sense in the context of the H-1 holder. The memoranda I've seen indicate a fair degree of latitude between the H-1/EAD/AP so long as the H-1 holder is working for the same employer on the EAD.

However, I don't see this logic extending to the H-4 holder; since she is not allowed to work for anyone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top