F1(OPT) to H4

[gravechoi]

Hello!!

I am posting this on behalf of my wife.

We got married this year and we are both on OPT now. I got H1B sponsorship from my company but she did not that my company filed h4 petition for her.

We got a notice from USCIS saying that my H1B/her H4 were successfully filed and are being processed now. My OPT was automatically extended from 6/30/18 to 9/30/18. However, her OPT will comes to an end on 6/30/18 and she is non-STEM major that we were not able to extend her OPT if I understand it correctly.

My questions here is since her H4 is being processed, is it ok for her to stay with me here in the states after 6/30 till her H4 being approved?

We already asked our DSO and she doesn't seem to know the answer to my question.

Any of your words would be truly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

[pontevecchio]

Her grace period is till August, 30 and hence she needs to leave before that and return with a H4 visa up to 10 days before October, 1.

[JoeF]

She will have to change to F2 when her OPT expires. That way, she can stay until her H4 kicks in.

 

[gravechoi]

1 hour ago, JoeF said:

She will have to change to F2 when her OPT expires. That way, she can stay until her H4 kicks in.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. Actually, that was our plan A but just wanted to make sure if that was the only option we have at this moment. Plus, we were not sure since her visa status is in the middle of changing from F1 to H4 that we were worried about changing her visa from F1 to F2 at this moment.

Her final day at work is June 12th, so do you recommend to apply for F2 when her job is finished or right now since F2 status change will take a couple of months?

Thank you so much for your time in advance.

 

Truly,

[gravechoi]

2 hours ago, pontevecchio said:

Her grace period is till August, 30 and hence she needs to leave before that and return with a H4 visa up to 10 days before October, 1.

Thank you so much for your reply&time. We are trying not to leave the state as much as possible unless we have to!