H4 to F1 change of status

balajik

Registered Users (C)
I am from India, have completed my graduate education and just started working for a company in California. i will be receiving my H1B approval papers in October. My wife who is my dependent, and who, until recently, was on an F2 dependent visa, plans to apply to graduate school in the US. We do not plan to travel outside the US until I obtain my Green Card. So here goes my question.

My wife wants to apply for a change of status to an F1 visa the moment she receives here I-20 from the school she applies to. I know that there is a form I-539 for change of status, but along that it was said that she will also have to send a photocopy of her H4 visa (when I get H1B approval papers, my wife is (tentatively) H4) as well as a valid I-94! Now the I-94 she has was obtained when she came to the US as my F2 dependent and will be invalid when I get my H1B approval papers.

So is there anyway she can apply for a change of status without our travelling outside the US to get our H1 and H4 visas respectively as well as our I-94s?

Please help me out with this situation. Thanks very much.

Balaji
 
why doesn't she get I-20 while she is still in F-2 status and apply for a change of status from F-2 to F-1, instead of first getting a change of status to H4 and then to F-1?
 
dear lucy
thanks for the reply. we just got married and my wife hasnt started graduate school yet. she still has to apply to graduate school and will start only (hopefully) in fall 2006. my H1B approval papers will be here before she attends grad school and hence my F1 status would have expired after june 2006.

please let me know.
 
she'll get a new I-94 when she gets her H4 status. Then next year she'll switch to F-1.

You know, she can study on H4, and in some cases even pay in-state tuition. That is, if she doesn't get an assistantship - then she'll need F-1.
 
LucyMO said:
she'll get a new I-94 when she gets her H4 status. Then next year she'll switch to F-1.

You know, she can study on H4, and in some cases even pay in-state tuition. That is, if she doesn't get an assistantship - then she'll need F-1.

Studying H4 is always future risk, you ar consuimg H visa 6 years. It will affect if you come to H1 later. (h1+h4=total 6 yrs).

It is always good to keep (not utilize) h visa duration for future job use, if you are eligible for F1 visa.
 
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