I am a native of Burkina Fasso. I have a master’s degree in computer networking from US. My wife and I were issued H4 and H1B visa respectively by USINS in November 2003 for me to work with company A. We both have H1B and H4 stamped on our passports to expire in Jan 2007. Mine was stamped in Toronto and hers was stamped in Burkina Fasso.
After working with company A for a year, they had a lot of financial difficulty and they had to cut down staff strength. Unfortunately, my job was cut in August 2004. I tried hard, searching for another job, but did not get one, so my wife applied for change of status in November 2004 from H4 to F1. I was included as her spouse (F2) in the petition. We sent in the application in December 2004. In the application, the lawyer indicated why there was a delay in this filing which was because of the difficulty in getting financial documents from my native country to facilitate the F1 filing process, the difficulty of finding a new job, my job being terminated abruptly, and the fact that my wife had to undergo surgery about a month after I lost my job. We are awaiting a feed back on this as of March 2005 from INS. I kept on looking for a job as this petition was in progress.
In March 2005, I did an interview with company B and they decided to sponsor me for an H1 visa and my wife too for an H4 visa. They have gone ahead to file premium processing for both of us. The lawyer again added the reasons for the lapse in conversion for my wife’s H4 to F1 in the documentation for this new petition. After two weeks, My lawyer got a feed back from USINS which was that my H1B petition was approved to start from March 2005 for 3 years. My extension of stay was however not approved for the fact that I was out of status for about 6 months. USINS indicated this in the form I797. USINS also indicated in the I -797 form that my file has been transferred to Toronto for an interview for extension of stay. The company is holding on to the job for me. I have scheduled an interview for 5th May in Toronto.
Here are my questions:
1 What is the possibility of successfully extending my stay in the US if I go to
Toronto for my appointment?
2 Why did USINS directed me to specifically go to Toronto instead of just
indicating that I have to go out of US to extend my stay?
3 Will I be allowed back to US to get all my belonging in the event that the
extension is not approved
4 The last pay stub I had was from my previous employer (July and August
2004). How do I respond to how I have been sustaining my family since I
lost my previous job or show recent pay stubs?
5 What is a pending COS ?
6 What are the kind of interview questions I may face with this kind of
scenerio?
After working with company A for a year, they had a lot of financial difficulty and they had to cut down staff strength. Unfortunately, my job was cut in August 2004. I tried hard, searching for another job, but did not get one, so my wife applied for change of status in November 2004 from H4 to F1. I was included as her spouse (F2) in the petition. We sent in the application in December 2004. In the application, the lawyer indicated why there was a delay in this filing which was because of the difficulty in getting financial documents from my native country to facilitate the F1 filing process, the difficulty of finding a new job, my job being terminated abruptly, and the fact that my wife had to undergo surgery about a month after I lost my job. We are awaiting a feed back on this as of March 2005 from INS. I kept on looking for a job as this petition was in progress.
In March 2005, I did an interview with company B and they decided to sponsor me for an H1 visa and my wife too for an H4 visa. They have gone ahead to file premium processing for both of us. The lawyer again added the reasons for the lapse in conversion for my wife’s H4 to F1 in the documentation for this new petition. After two weeks, My lawyer got a feed back from USINS which was that my H1B petition was approved to start from March 2005 for 3 years. My extension of stay was however not approved for the fact that I was out of status for about 6 months. USINS indicated this in the form I797. USINS also indicated in the I -797 form that my file has been transferred to Toronto for an interview for extension of stay. The company is holding on to the job for me. I have scheduled an interview for 5th May in Toronto.
Here are my questions:
1 What is the possibility of successfully extending my stay in the US if I go to
Toronto for my appointment?
2 Why did USINS directed me to specifically go to Toronto instead of just
indicating that I have to go out of US to extend my stay?
3 Will I be allowed back to US to get all my belonging in the event that the
extension is not approved
4 The last pay stub I had was from my previous employer (July and August
2004). How do I respond to how I have been sustaining my family since I
lost my previous job or show recent pay stubs?
5 What is a pending COS ?
6 What are the kind of interview questions I may face with this kind of
scenerio?
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