EAD or H1b renewal

H

hardlu

Registered Users (C)
Dear all,

My I485 is pending since last Apr. My H1b will expire in the coming Dec. My attorney just emailed me about
the H1b renewal or EAD application. He preferred EAD, since it is much cheaper and very easy to do.

Besides the money issue, do you guys have any inputs about the advantages and disadvantages of H1b renewal and EAD application for my situation?

By the way, My wife is currently using EAD to work on a full time basis, but she applied H4 before, does she also need to renewal her H4??

Please help me on this. Thanks a lot in advance.
 
hardlu said:
Dear all,

My I485 is pending since last Apr. My H1b will expire in the coming Dec. My attorney just emailed me about
the H1b renewal or EAD application. He preferred EAD, since it is much cheaper and very easy to do.

Besides the money issue, do you guys have any inputs about the advantages and disadvantages of H1b renewal and EAD application for my situation?

By the way, My wife is currently using EAD to work on a full time basis, but she applied H4 before, does she also need to renewal her H4??

Please help me on this. Thanks a lot in advance.
Click to expand...

Staying with H1b has an advantage that if for any reason I-485 is denied you can continue to be in H1 status. If your wife is presently using EAD and your 485 gets denied, she can immediately apply for H4 (if you have a valid H1 status). If you (the principal applicant) or both of you use EAD, you will not have any status to fall back to once 485 is denied.
If you use EAD, you will also need AP to travel, H1 or H4 visa will no longer be valid. Factor in the fees for AP also.
The only benefit with EAD is that you can easily switch jobs without having the new employer file for an H1.
 
thanks a lot, brother.

:)
nkm-oct23 said:
Staying with H1b has an advantage that if for any reason I-485 is denied you can continue to be in H1 status. If your wife is presently using EAD and your 485 gets denied, she can immediately apply for H4 (if you have a valid H1 status). If you (the principal applicant) or both of you use EAD, you will not have any status to fall back to once 485 is denied.
If you use EAD, you will also need AP to travel, H1 or H4 visa will no longer be valid. Factor in the fees for AP also.
The only benefit with EAD is that you can easily switch jobs without having the new employer file for an H1.
Click to expand...
 
I'd also add that IMO if your I-140 is actually approved, then this makes it somewhat safer to be on an EAD than if the I-140 is still pending. The I-485 could still be denied obviously but the biggest hurdle tends to be the I-140.

That said, there's still lot's of advantages to sticking with the H.

ETA
 
I'll share my experience and you can make up your own mind.

My 485 was filed in Nov 2002. I received my first EAD & AP towards the end of Jan 2003. I applied for EAD & AP renewal (as advised) 6 months prior to the expiration of of the EAD - in July 2003. In Nov. 2003 (3 month after the application) I received RFEs for both my EAD & AP (while they claimed the processing time was between 60 and 90 days or something like that). I immediately responded to the RFEs within a week. By now I was really worried since both my 6th year H1-B and EAD were expiring in Jan 2004 (EAD was gonna expire about 2 weeks after H1-B). So my employer applied for the 7th year extension of my H1-B. While I am still waiting for my H1-B approval, the extension application kept me from stopping to work. My EAD was finally approved towards the end of Feb 2004 (more than another 90 days after the submission of my RFE response).

The lesson I learned was to cover as many bases as I could. It's not worth losing one's job.

Good luck with your endeavors! :)
 
This last post brings up two important considerations.

First, an H-1B allows you to work for up to 240 days after expiry, provided a timely filed extension petition has been filed. An EAD does not allow such a thing.

Second, the H-1B acts as your employment authorization and re-entry document. Considering that the $1000 "training fee" has been sunsetted, a 7th year H-1B may still be cheaper than applying for an EAD and AP every year.
 
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