COS from H4 to F1

USA Study in USA
1

Hello,

I applied for COS for my wife on Nov 18 2016 and it went to California Center for processing. My wife colleague applied on 14 Nov 2016 and she got RFE ine first week of Feb. I was hoping to hear some progress on my case but it did not move forward. I checked USCIS processing time yesterday and it showed processing cases of 2nd December as of 31 December 2016. Time is way passed my application date. I am not sure what has caused problem in my case. I raised service request and am yet to hear from them. I have heard most of the service request get generic inputs as to security or background checks are pending and it might take around 6 months.

Would it be good decision to travel to India and get F1 stamped rather than waiting for COS to be approved. I thought if COS is approved before Summer, my wife could do internship in summer.

Can you please advice what can be reason my case has not progressed and is it ok to travel with COS pending and getting F1 stamped?

2

Well, just changing the status does not entitle her to work on CPT as there are some requirements to be on F1 status for two semesters for most of the schools…again, this varies by school some do not have this requirement as well…Check with DSO. Now, regarding stamping in India, it has its pros and cons…there is never 100% guarantee that you will get stamping, on the positive side, it is quick and the better approach to have visa stamped and commence the program, rather than worrying about it every time you travel… You need to calculate your risk and take a decision.

3

thanks Kumar for the reply. We have checked with university DSO and they told we have to maintain full time status either on H4 or F1. F1 stamping definitely has advantage of being quick.COS wait is frustrating as USCIS does not tell where exactly the application is stuck. No use of any follow ups with them