My spouse is currently working on F-1 OPT or H-1 status. How can he/she change to H-4 status and obtain H-4 EAD without a gap in the ability to work?
We have received several requests about how to ensure there are no gaps in a spouse’s ability to work when converting from another work status (such as H-1) to H-4 EAD.
The short answer, as of now (November 2016) is that here is no way to guarantee that there will not be any gap in a spouse’s ability to work. The problems arise from the fact that there can be a gap between change of status to H-4 and receipt of EAD. The law requires that EAD must be approved and the EAD card must be in hand for the H4 holder to work.
Got GC in 18months (RIR Labor application to 485 approval). Rajiv Khanna (RK) helped me out of a mess that I thought was impossible to solve. He helped out an unknown emailer, spent hours analyzing the situation over the phone and devised a game-plan. Guess what, without signing a retainer or expecting compensation. I still remember when I called other “big lawyer” for help, first thing her office wanted was my credit card.
Story began in summer of 2003. When I found out that my earlier lawyer had screwed up the whole 140/485 application and was eventually denied, loss of 4years of waiting. I then emailed RK for help. He patiently heard the story and advised that I should redo the whole application from point A. Even though dread of going through whole labor application all over again was overwhelming, RK was absolutely correct that earlier labor was approved under incorrect language, mistakes many inexperienced lawyers make.
Best thing is that he sticks by the books, remains honest about the situation and never promises miracles. Apart from RK’s excellent competency and vast experience, he has excellent well-trained support team. That really makes a huge difference because game-plan is one thing, while organizational support & efficient execution is other.