Cos application from H4 to F1

Hi,

I am H4 visa holder and I have around 8 years of experience in IT.Now I studying in second semester and I want to apply for COS to F1,but recently in december due to ACICS ,my university has lost accreditation and it is in 18 months grace period.

They have applied to accreditation agencies in september 2016.

I have 2 semesters left and I can not spend money again doing transfers and paying for 18 credits again

Now my concern is

1.If I apply for COS for this university ,will there any problem because of accreditation .

2.What care Should I take while applying for COS.

3.As I said I have experience and my employer from India is ready to file my H1 this April 2017,so can I apply for COS from H4 to F1 in march and then my employer can file H1 .

4.What if my H1 gets picked up in lottery,what will happen to my cos from h4 to f1.

Please guide me on the same.

Thanks in advance.

Hi… I also have the same question. Only my case is that my H1b application got picked up in the April 2016 lottery but is still in the “case received” status. Now I am planning to apply for a H4 to F1 COS. What effect will it have on my H1b Application ?

Kindly help guys… !!

Hi Neha,

Like I mentioned I am in the same boat as you. I found the answers from an immigration lawyer. Here are answers to your question 3 & 4

3.As I said I have experience and my employer from India is ready to file my H1 this April 2017,so can I apply for COS from H4 to F1 in march and then my employer can file H1 . You can apply for COS from H4 to F1 whenever you want i.e. before or after your employer files your H1B. If your H1B gets approved BEFORE you COS is approved then you can simply withdraw your COS application(However plz enquire how withdrawal works in detail). You will then be on H1B Visa.

4.What if my H1 gets picked up in lottery,what will happen to my cos from h4 to f1. So let’s assume your H4 to F1 COS is approved. if your H1 gets picked up in the lottery (and is yet to be approved) it will not affect your F1 status i.e. you will be in F1 status. But AFTER your H1 gets approved you will be in H1 status and not in F1. And the other case like I have mentioned above if your COS is not yet approved but H1 gets approved then simply withdraw your COS application.

Let me know for any more doubts

Thanks,

Tara

Thanks Tara for this information.I searched a lot but was not getting proper answers.
Once again thanks for the information.

Warm Regards,
Neha.

My pleasure Neha… I can totally relate to the need to finding answers to these queries…
Also let me know if you get any more information in these areas… Thank you :slight_smile:

Hi Tara,
I am in a similar situation.My H1b is picked in April 2017 and is still in Received Status.I want to pursue Masters and apply for H4 to F1 COS.But I am worried if that might impact my H4 to H1b application approval.Can you let me know what happened to your case?Could you please help me out as you have gone through the similar process?Also, it would be great if you could tell what happened in your case.
Thanks in advance