H4 EAD approved after my H1B COS approval

USA H4EAD
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1

Hi,

I applied H4 EAD renewal on July 2019, but before that I got my H1B COS approved. EAD was pending with uscis all this time. Today my EAD petition got approved and status changed to “New card being produced”.

Now what is my status H1 or H4 ? Is my EAD valid ?

If anyone faced this situation, please share your experience!

TIA

2

Hi @PriyaM

Your status is governed by your i94 and not the EAD card.

Your H1B change of status approval got you a new i94 showing your status as H1B.

Now, the status depends on what happened to H4 extension? When was the last H4 extension approved?

What does your most recent i94 show as status? H1b or H4?

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My H4 approved on last July 2019. H1B is the latest approval.

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Is there anyway to make use of this EAD ? Like, if I apply COS to H4, can I use this new EAD card ?

5

Hi @PriyaM

You can file H4 COS but can’t use EAD card until H4 is finally approved. It is taking 10-12 months to get H4 COS approval these days.

You can go out of US and return using H4 visa if you want to get on to H4 faster.

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Hi Anil.

Hope you are staying safe.

I would like change my H1B status to H4 and work under H4 EAD (which i got approved while i am on H1B).

Now my employer is saying " my EAD is invalid, If I get new H4 stamping (planning in India thru dropbox) , after entering US I have to apply a new EAD card as the one which I am having is invalid "

I know that my EAD is valid, you already confirmed the same. But my employer strongly disagreeing and he is not ready to update my I-9. If I try to explain him that my EAD is valid he is asking me to show the proof :frowning:

What are my options now … Kindly guide me.

7

Hire an attorney to explain your Employer.

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Thanks Anil. My Employer did check with couple of Attorney’s ( i am not aware of the details of the attorneys), and they confirmed to my employer that my EAD is valid and I can work using the same :slight_smile:

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I am in the similar situation.
My h1-b for my change employer rejected just before my travel to india(in Nov 21 2019).I travelled to India on Nov 26 2019.I have returned to USA on 01/20/2020 on H4 Visa and I have valid H4 stamping till 02/2022
1.Applied for H4-EAD card valid in Jan 2020.

2.Applied for H1-b with new employer again in February 2020.

3.This time My H1-b approved in March 2020 and changed employer on h1-b,currently I am on H1-B visa and got approved till 09/2023.

4.I got my H4-EAD which i applied in Jan 2020 got approved in Jun 2020 till 02/2022.
my passport currently has valid h4 stamping till 02/2022

Now I am planning to switch from H1-b to h4-ead.

Question is: I need to travel out of country in may 2021. I am planning return to US on H4-visa(as my passport already has valid H4 visa) . Can you please suggest me if I can continue my employment with H4-EAD card ? I am hearing in few websites that “last action rule” taken into place and my h4-ead will be considered as “abandoned”? is that true?

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@PriyaM : did they saying that h4 ead will be abandoned in these situations? I am in the same boat planning to travel and come back as h4

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H4 EAD is vaild. We can work with EAD after changing our visa status to H4