I am planning to change from H1B status to H4.
I will apply for #usa:h4-ead and most probably will get approved for 3 years.
My question is if I convert back to H1B again after getting H4-EAD and then convert back to H4, will the previous H4-EAD (it will still have validity) be used to work?
Once you change your status from H4 to anything like H1B, your H4 EAD stays valid until the expiry date printed on it.
If you move from H4-EAD to H1B and then again back to H4, you can use the H4-EAD again if its valid.
Note that you should be in H4 status (printed on i94).
Hi Anil,
Just to clarify on above response, my wife moved from F1 to H4 via consular processing (visa stamped) and applied EAD got approved in Dec 2017.
Her current EAD is valid till September 2020. In FY 2018, she moved to H1 in lottery quota and currently she had H1B visa stamped on her passport till Aug 2021.
She applied for H4 & EAD (COS) from H1 with my H1B transfer petition and its been 3months now. My H1B got approved in June after RFE.
Since the current processing time with USCIS are very slow, can she use the EAD which was approved in Dec 2017 to continue her work with out going for stamping? Please advise.
She cannot work using H4 EAD until her H4 change is finally approved.
She can also go out of US, get H4 visa and then enter US to get onto H4 status.