Question Regarding Maintaining H1B Legal Status

U

user_123

New Member
Hi,
I got my H1b approval starting from Oct 1st 2008 through a consultant. I have applied for SSN and its been a month and havent recieved it yet. I am still looking out for jobs, not yet successfull.I am worried as to how much time do I have to maintain my legal status on H1b till I get a job. i.e. how many days can I be on H1b legally without working ? If I have already surpassed my legal available time without having a job, can I get back to H4 by filing I-539 ?
Also when I asked this same question to my consultant, he said he would show that I was on leave in this period until I got a job , is this possible, is it legal? Lastly since I do not have my SSN yet and cannot work , would that help to buy more time to get a job?

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
You can opt for an unpaid leave, but it has to be intermittent and short. If you don't have a single pay stub, it would only mean that you are on bench and that is a violation of H-1B law. You have to be paid all the time. You are out-of-status the moment you are not being paid.
 
You don't need SSN to work as long as you have applied for it.
Also, if you go to the SSA office they can tell you your SSN (not give you a card, card will arrive in mail. You may ask them for a replacement card if it has been too long though)
 
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