H1 Extension and U1 visa approved in 1 week gap, which visa is valid?

[vedagiri]

Please advise.

I have applied my H1B extension on Nov 7th on premium process and it got approved on Nov 20th for 3 years. I had applied U visa in Oct 2014, after 4 year of waiting finally my U-visa was approved on Nov 13th, 2018 for 4 years, with EAD category A19.

My question is -  my U visa approved on Nov 13th and H1B ext approved on Nov 20th. Does my H1B ext approval overwritten my U visa approval? I noticed, U visa I-94 number is different than my H1B I-94. I'm on H1B visa or U1 visa? Can i have two valid visas?

Please advise my current status?

 

Best Regards,

Vedagiri

[pontevecchio]

Status is not a visa. You will either be in H1 status or U status depending on whether you use the H1 approval as work authorization or the EAD based on U visa as authorization. A visa is an entry foil in your passport and can only be obtained abroad.

[vedagiri]

1 hour ago, pontevecchio said:

Status is not a visa. You will either be in H1 status or U status depending on whether you use the H1 approval as work authorization or the EAD based on U visa as authorization. A visa is an entry foil in your passport and can only be obtained abroad.

Thank you for you reply and clarification. So which status I'm on? Can I have two valid statuses with two different I-94's? How USCIS know whether i'm using H1 approval as work authorization or EAD based on U visa as authorization?

 

I'm planning to travel to India in Jan, 2019. I don't know chances of getting U visa stamped. So i'm thinking to go for H1B stamping and comeback. Once i comeback i would like to update my employer with U visa EAD. Will that work? 

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

 

 

[pontevecchio]

Your employer will know and the I9 form will tell them. Did you never have a lawyer involved?

[JoeF]

For the status, the last action matters. That means, the I-94 from the last approval notice is what determines tour status. You only ever have one status in the US.

[vedagiri]

6 hours ago, pontevecchio said:

Your employer will know and the I9 form will tell them. Did you never have a lawyer involved?

Thank you. I will inform my employer that i got U visa and fill I-9 form. Yes, i do have a lawyer. Below is my lawyer response for the same question -

No, you actually have dual status now. You can maintain both if you like as they are both non-immigrant status’s BUT, you must make sure that your U visa requirements are being fulfilled. 

[vedagiri]

2 hours ago, JoeF said:

For the status, the last action matters. That means, the I-94 from the last approval notice is what determines tour status. You only ever have one status in the US.

As per my U visa lawyer, now i have dual status. I have different I-94 numbers for H1 and U visa. As per my lawyer, i need to start use U visa i-94 and EAD for my employment.

[JoeF]

It is not possible to have multiple statuses. You can have multiple visas, but not multiple statuses.

Ask your lawyer to give you the section of the law.