H1b Departed - H4 EAD validity and H4 to h1b Cap subject


kumar_usa

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Hi

I departed US after quitting my job (FTE) due to health emergency in October 2018. I still have h1b I94 validity till May 2019.

My wife is on H4 -H4EAD and currently working as a contractor. Her employer applied h1b Cap application for in March 2018.

My wife's cap subject h1b is picked in lottery and is still showing in pending status still.

Can my wife use h4 EAD during 60 day grace period (since both of our I94 are valid till May 2019).

Also will my wife's h1b cap subject application be considered invalid since her h4 status went into grace period (60 days)

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Your wife has to stop working immediately stately since her H4 is invalid because you are not on H1 anymore. And there is no grace period because you are outside the US.

Your wife is legal while the H1 petition is pending, but she can NOT work until it is approved.

 

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10 hours ago, JoeF said:

Your wife has to stop working immediately stately since her H4 is invalid because you are not on H1 anymore. And there is no grace period because you are outside the US.

Your wife is legal while the H1 petition is pending, but she can NOT work until it is approved.

 

i consulted her employer attorney, the attrny says "grace period is granted per i94". since h1 and h4 are issued seperate i94 numbers, she can continue working using the grace period. 

also my h1b is still showing as valid in the uscis case status search.my employer sent letter to uscis to revoke

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No, she can NOT continue working.

You are not on H1 anymore because you are out of the country. That also means there is no grace period.

And an H4 is invalid as soon as the primary person is no longer on H1. This has nothing to do with her I-94. She is working illegally and has to stop working immediately.

 

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10 hours ago, kumar_usa said:

i consulted her employer attorney, the attrny says "grace period is granted per i94". since h1 and h4 are issued seperate i94 numbers, she can continue working using the grace period. 

also my h1b is still showing as valid in the uscis case status search.my employer sent letter to uscis to revoke

I-94 shows the admission class and date till the status is good.  Once you stop working for an employer, your H1 is gone and you don't have any status, even though the website shows active H1, if you don't have status there is no I94 date.

H4 is totally dependent on H1, since you are out of US your wife's H4 is not valid and she does not have any status now. However, since her H1 application in process she can stay legally in US until her H1 is approved, but she cannot work on H4 status now.  If she is working now on H4, ready to face some RFE questions.

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