Gap in Status

Question details

A couple of questions on Gap in status:<br>

1. I am on H-1B and my project/job is going to end on April 29,2016 (Friday). I have my H-4 approved effective May 2, 2016. I will get salary slip from 1 April to 30 April. Do I need to have salary slip for May 1, 2016 (which is a Sunday) to maintain H-1B/ legal status (considering that I won't be getting May 1 to May 31 salary slip).<br>

2. I am currently on H-1B and have an approved H-4 Effective 15 July 2016. As part of my H-4 application (which I had filed along with my spouse extension) , I had requested USCIS to give me H-4 effective date of 13 May 2016 as my project was going to end on 13 May 2016. But, the request was not honoured and USCIS responded citing the reason "Since the beneficiary of the I-539 and I-765 will change status, we cannot give an earlier start date than what is shown on the I-129 approval notice." If my project ends on 13 May 2016 , should I leave the country as my H-4 effective start date is 15 July 2016 to maintain legal status ?

ANSWER

Watch Video: Gap in Status


Video Transcript:

Answer 1: These kinds of de minimis small gaps are sometimes  even a product of the way the government works. In your case I don't think it is going to be a problem. Technically yes even for one day being out of status the government can say you are out of status, but when they have already approved your status I don't think this is going to be a major issue. 

Answer 2: I personally think it is still not a big issue because  if you got the H-4 already with an I-94 attached I doubt if the government is going to make an issue out of it. But you can do another thing. You can file a tourist visa to cover you for those two months but make sure it does not go beyond July 14. Other wise your status will be changed to B. So you could do a stop gap kind of arrangement or you could leave USA for a couple of months. But even if you stayed I doubt whether it is going to be an issue. 


Note: This is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.

FAQ Transcript

Note: This is a verbatim transcript of the referenced audio/video media delivered as oral communication, and, therefore, may not conform to written grammatical or syntactical form.