Here is my unique scenario.
I was in H1B with employer A, say as of July 2018.
In Aug 2018, I join employer B on H1B transfer receipt.
The approval for this H1B does not come until Dec 2018.
But when it came, it came with Validity From and To as Aug 2018 – Sep 2018.
My Spouse is also on H1B so in Dec 2018, as soon as we got the Backdated H1B approval, my i-539 COS to H4 was filed almost within 3 weeks on receipt of backdated approval., by Jan 2019 and I stopped working as soon as the notice was received.
And the story continues – my i-539 COS to H4 approval happened only on May 2019. 4 months after it was filed.
Did I accrue any out of status here ? or was I in the so called Period Of Authorized Stay since I filed the COS quick ? To me, there isn’t any out of status as I understand the process.
Please advise. Thank you.
Please ask any questions if my case is not clear or if I did not make it clear.
Note: After all this, a year ago, I got a full 3 year H1B extension with the same employer(this itself would mean I did not accrue any wrongful stay, correct ? )
Because your COS from H1B to H4 was approved with I-94, there is nothing to worry. Based on the timelines you don’t seem to have accrued any unlawful presence.
The period Jan 2019 (time I filed the CoS from H1 to H4) - May 2019(time my H4 was approved by USCIS), is this also called the Period of Authorized Stay ? Categorically even in a backdated approval scenario I described above ?
Yes. You get 60 days grace period in case you lose the H1B status. In your case the 60 days grace period starts from the day of your approval notice and as it was a short approval, you would be considered in H1B status from Aug’18 to Sep’18 and in period of authorized stay from Sep’18 to Dec’18.
You files for COS during the grace period and your H4 was approved with I-94, meaning USCIS thinks you were not out of status when all these happened.
Why are you raising concern now for something that happened 3-4 years back?
Thank you. I am asking this question because I do not understand what my non-immigrant status is exactly, Kalpesh.
From the date of filing COS, till the date it gets approved. The timeframe between these two dates - what is the Non-Immigrant status ?
You said in my case the COS is filed on the 60 days grace period. Are you referring to 60 days from the date of receipt of Approval Notice ? ( i assume this is what you are saying).
Like i said, the approval for COS to H4 was done 4 months after filing COS. So my question now is, what was my status during those 4 months ?
( I totally understand what you said - since I have a new I94 issued and all is well, i did not accrue any unlawful presence ttime etc, but question is what is my status during that 4 month waiting period)
Thank you again !!! for taking time to go through, think on it and taking time to answer! Appreciate your help
The time between your I-94 expiry and the start date on the EOS/COS approval notice is considered period of authorized stay and not any specific non-immigrant status as such.
And the reason I was continuously insisting on the question was, that gap - is that a questionable / object able gap with respect to a future employer !
I don’t expect the employer to ask me, you were not on H1, you were not on H4, what was your status during that time ?
(Like I said, I assume i was in some good status because i acted swiftly, by filing COS, etc everything on time).
From an another forum full of attorneys I am rest assured that the gaps i mentioned here in the original post are categorized as period of authorized stay. and it is never questionable by another future employer.
