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H1B visa expiring but selected for the DV Lottery

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svaday

Registered Users (C)
I received the email confirmation, on May 1st 2013, from Kentucky Consular Center mentioning that I am selected for the Electronic Diversity Visa for the fiscal year 2014. My case number is 2014AS000002XX. Currently, I am in the United States in H1B visa status and which is expiring on September 30th, 2013. I want to process the Green Card from the United States.
I am confused what to do next as I got three different suggestions as follows:
- Apply for the Adjustment of Status as early as possible.
- Get the H1B re-sponsorship from the work before it expires.
- Just remain quiet till the visa number is available (1st or 2nd week of October) and then only do the paper works.
Can anyone PLEASE guide me regarding this matter?
Thank you in advance.
 
these are is the thought of the day:
there is no loss of status after 30 September in case of pending AOS application;
if there are reasons why AOS would not approved, the nature of these reasons affects H1B (=termination of H1B)
 
svaday said:
I received the email confirmation, on May 1st 2013, from Kentucky Consular Center mentioning that I am selected for the Electronic Diversity Visa for the fiscal year 2014. My case number is 2014AS000002XX. Currently, I am in the United States in H1B visa status and which is expiring on September 30th, 2013. I want to process the Green Card from the United States.
I am confused what to do next as I got three different suggestions as follows:
- Apply for the Adjustment of Status as early as possible.
- Get the H1B re-sponsorship from the work before it expires.
- Just remain quiet till the visa number is available (1st or 2nd week of October) and then only do the paper works.
Can anyone PLEASE guide me regarding this matter?
Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

You need to be in status as at the time of your interview, so if your H1 visa is set to expire in Sept, you should get your employer to put in the necessary application to get it renewed. The renewal process doesn't need to have been completed by the time of your interview though, you can show the renewal receipt if that is all you have as at the time of your interview if asked about it.

You will be taking a big gamble in my opinion if you try the approach of "Just remain quiet till the visa number is available (1st or 2nd week of October) and then only do the paper works". While the possibility of early filing is true, from past experiences that I'm aware of, USCIS tends to be a bit strict at the beginning of the FY. There's a known case of a DV2013 applicant who was current in Oct, USCIS received the I-485 package on Sept 28th (the last working day of the month) and sent it back mid October because according to them, priority date could not be established as at the time of receipt.
 
You mentioned that you have 3 options
But I think you ONLY have 1 safe option, i will explain each and why...

According to you:

Option 1:- Apply for the Adjustment of Status as early as possible.
This is not an option in your case because you can't apply for adjustment of status until your case becomes current which most likely will be in October or November of 2013...which at that point your H1B would have been expired and you don't want stay with an expired visa let alone that your employer might terminate your employment since you don't have a valid work permit

Option 2:- Get the H1B re-sponsorship from the work before it expires.
This is the way to go...because your current H1B will expire in Sep 30th, 2013 so you will need to renew your H1B to remain employed and to remain legal and in status until your case number becomes current and until you actually have your adjustment of status processed and get your green card...Which could take at least 3 months if not more...so during those 3 months (October - December) with a new H1B visa you will remain employed and will stay in status.

Option 3:- Just remain quiet till the visa number is available (1st or 2nd week of October) and then only do the paper works.
If you stay quite then your current H1B will expire, how do you plan to continue employment if your H1B is expired???
Also if your visa is expired then you should be leaving USA within 30 days. Yes you will apply for adjustment of status but this could take at least 3 months..you can't stay with an expired visa for that long and you also wont be eligible to have your AOS approved given that you have been out of status and illegally present in the states since your H1B visa was expired!!!

So I think your only option is to have your H1B renewed and then go from there.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
if the case is not current before November 2013 (I thought it would become current earlier) yes, go for the safe option written above
 
Thank you all for your suggestions.
To be safe I will renew my H1B.
-----------------------
Now, what steps do I need to do for the processing of my green card lottery from USA.
It will be a great help if some one can guide me through this.

Thanks again!
 
svaday said:
Thank you all for your suggestions.
To be safe I will renew my H1B.
-----------------------
Now, what steps do I need to do for the processing of my green card lottery from USA.
It will be a great help if some one can guide me through this.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

You will do "Adjustment of Status". There are some excellent threads on this forum for Aos - I suggest you read them from start to finish (the 2013 and 2014 ones) then you should fully understand the process.
 
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