Masters on H4 !

USA L1, L2 Visa
1

Hi Admin,

My wife who is on H4 Visa currently applied for H1B FY2017, but didn’t get through the lottery. So, she is planning to get into Master’s program. My questions are :

  1. If she starts Masters on H4 and then convert into F1 Visa later, will she be still eligible for OPT even if she doesn’t stay on F1 for one academic year ?

  2. How difficult is to convert from H4 to F1 and How long does it take ? Will there be any problems when she goes for F1 Visa stamping at consulate ?

  3. My company has recently applied for PERM. If when the PERM and I-140 gets approved and my wife gets EAD, will she be able to work and continue Master’s simultaneously ?

  4. If she doesn’t convert into F1 Visa and completes Masters on H4 Visa only, will she be eligible for Master’s quota for the future H1B lotteries ?

Thank you !

2

  1. You can read it here: Converting H4 to F1 and eligibility for OPT - F1, F2 Visas - CPT - OPT - RedBus2US Community

  2. COS is straight forward and lot of people do it themselves. Processing time can be 2-4 months. F-1 stamping is easier than for someone who appears w/o COS. Still there is always a chance of stamping to run into issues.

  3. Yes, while she is on H-4 she can get EAD and work and still be enrolled in school

  4. Yes,she would still be eligible for AD cap as long as school is an accredited one.

3

Hello Saurabh,

Thank you a lot for your reply. I have one follow up question regarding the first answer.

In the below link, USCIS doesn’t say that full academic year has to be on F1, but on the link which you have posted has different answer. Does that rule depends on the univ ? or Is it like study under H4 doesn’t count as full-time enrollment ?

Could you please clarify me on that? Thank you !

4

Yes, it could be university thing. If you search online, you will see folks posting that their school refused to issue OPT if they didn’t stay on F-1 for at least 1 year. Better to check w/ your school.