H4 to H1 RFE for husbands paystubs...Please Help !!!

[sowmyap34]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

In April,07 I had applied for a H4 to H1 change of status through a consulting company

My husband is working on H1B visa through another consulting company and his project ended in January this year. Unfortunately i have received a RFE on my H1B application and they are asking for my husbands latest paystubs which we dont have (the consulting company my husband works for did not pay on bench, so the paystubs were not generated.)

Is there any other option left for me?

Can i ask for extension to the RFE (hopefully my husband would be on project by then)or would they still insist on the time period requested for

Senior members / Immigration Attorneys please help !

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

There is no request for extension to respond to RFE. They are already giving you about 90 days to respond. It really does not matter whether you produce these or not. If you do not, then your H_1B will be approved, if otherwise approvable, not as a change of status from H-4 to H-1B but as consular processing and that will require you to go abroad to get a H-1B visa before being able to come back to the US in H-1B status and commencing work for this employer.

 

[sowmyap34]

Thanks for the reply.

1) What do we reply for the RFE?

2) Can i request for consular processing or is this going to come from USCIS

3) As i am from India, would the consular processing be required to be done in India or can i go for it at Canada / Mexico ( my first visa stamping for H4 was done in India)

4) Is there any other way out other than consular processing

5) What would be the reason for the USCIS to ask for my husbands paystubs.

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

1. I cannot advise how to respond to RFE since I don't know anything about the petition and you are not my client
2. It will most likely come from the USCIS as the decision
3. You might be able to do it in Canada or Mexico but if your visa cannot be approved there, you will have to go to India from there anyway.
4. If the H-1B is approved as consular processing, there is no other way around it. If your husband is not getting paid, then he is not maintaining valid H-1B status and, therefore, you are not maintaining valid H-4 status since your status is tied to your husband's. If you are not maintaining status, then you are not eligible for change of status and that is why it would be approved for consular processing.
5. The reason to ask for your husband's paycheck stubs is to ascertain whether he is maintaining valid H-1B status and, therefore, whether you are maintaining valid H-4 status.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.