Studying While F1 COS is Pending

[Likitha1]

I am currently accepted to pursue Masters for Fall 2022 semester. I have applied for Change of Status (COS) for F1 Visa within United States and this application is still under processing. I am currently on H4 Visa (expiring on Feb 2023) which still allows me to pursue Masters for this semester.

My question is, If I decided to defer my Acceptance to Spring 2023 semester, will USCIS comes back and ask why haven’t I pursued the Fall semester in H4 status ? Is there any requirement/recommendation to pursue the course when your current Visa status allows you to do so. Kindly advise.

[Kalpesh_Dalwadi]

@Likitha1

My question is, If I decided to defer my Acceptance to Spring 2023 semester, will USCIS comes back and ask why haven’t I pursued the Fall semester in H4 status ? Is there any requirement/recommendation to pursue the course when your current Visa status allows you to do so.

USCIS cares only about legal status, no issues if you defer your semester. Talk to your DSO if you plan on doing it so that they can push out your start date on I-20 SEVIS record.