apply for renewal of status before it expires within xxxxx days?
Not really. If you're renewing H1B status, you only need to apply for the renewal 1 day before it expires and you can keep working. If you're applying for adjustment of status, you only have to file the I-485 one day before your existing nonimmigrant status expires, and you'll still be allowed to stay legally in the US until the I-485 is approved or denied (although if you didn't apply for H1B renewal you can't legally work till you get the EAD -- that's why I said to apply 4 months in advance of H1B expiration so you'll get the EAD before the H1B expires).And still, for curiosity sake, is there a "set" timeline... saying you have to apply for renewal of status before it expires within xxxxx days?
Yes, but when would you plan to send it? The RFE may be less than 1 month after you file the I-485, and it likely will have a tight deadline like 30 days (of which 5-10 days may have already been used up in transit). If you expect to complete the medical in the next 1 or 2 months anyway, better to just wait 1 or 2 months and file the I-485 together with the medical.
And sometimes when you send the medical after the I-485, you still get the RFE anyway because they didn't promptly process the medical to add it to your file (i.e. it sat idle on somebody's desk for 1-2 months, so they send the RFE without realizing they already have the medical).
If you file the I-485 now (without the medical), you have to be prepared to complete the medical in December or January if they send the RFE quickly.I could do my shots in April-May (5-6 mo. before my H-1 expires), so that's when I can send it :/ 6 mo before H-1 exp. my employer will get an email, and everybody will start running around - "are you leaving?", etc.
Ah... I don't know what to do. wait till then or start the process now.
If you're applying for adjustment of status, you only have to file the I-485 one day before your existing nonimmigrant status expires, and you'll still be allowed to stay legally in the US until the I-485 is approved or denied (although if you didn't apply for H1B renewal you can't legally work till you get the EAD -- that's why I said to apply 4 months in advance of H1B expiration so you'll get the EAD before the H1B expires).
She seems to be worried more about maintaining continuous work eligibility than merely being allowed to stay legally. If she does not get an EAD or GC before H1B expiration*, her employer can (and is legally supposed to) fire her even if she has a pending I-485. Hence her concern about filing the papers with enough lead time to get the EAD or GC before the H1B expires.If she's filing on basis of marriage to a US citizen she doesn't need to file the I-485 while in valid non-immigrant status. One the I-485 is filed she is legally allowed to stay.