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Tel: 512-329-2740
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sonia@ansarilawfirm.com

Change of Nonimmigrant Status

Purpose of Change of Status

As a nonimmigrant, you are issued a temporary visa for a specific purpose. This means that you may engage only in activities consistent with your nonimmigrant status (business, study, temporary employment, pleasure). If you want to change the purpose of your visit or time in the United States, you (or, in some cases, your employer) must apply to change your nonimmigrant status to a category that allows you to engage in your desired activity.  If would like to file for change of status, please contact us.

Generally, you may apply to change to a new nonimmigrant status if you lawfully traveled to the United States on a temporary visa and were lawfully admitted, your temporary visa status remains valid, and you have not committed any crimes that make you ineligible to change your status.

However, not all temporary visa holders are eligible to change their status. You may not change your status in the United States if you were admitted in any of the following categories:

  • Visa Waiver Pilot Program or a Guam Visa Waiver Program;
  • D - Crewman;
  • C - Person in Transit;
  • K - Fiancé of U.S Citizen; or
  • S - Informant

If you were admitted to the United States as B-1 business visitor, you do not need to apply to change your status to a B-2 visitor for pleasure if you wish to remain in the United States for pleasure during the period of your authorized stay.

If you are a J-1 exchange visitor admitted to the United States to receive graduate medical training, you may not change your status, unless you receive a special waiver. Other J-1 visa holders may be subject to a two-year foreign residence requirement before they are permitted to change their status. These J-1 visa holders must also apply for a waiver of the requirement before changing their nonimmigrant status, unless changing to the A (diplomatic and other government officials) or G (representatives to international organizations) nonimmigrant categories.

Applying for Change of Status

You should submit your change of status application as soon as you know you would like to change your status.

If you fall within any of the following categories of nonimmigrants, you must file Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status with the USCIS Service Center with jurisdiction over the place you are staying:

  • A - Diplomatic and other government officials, and their families and employees
  • B - Temporary visitors for business or pleasure
  • F - Academic students and their families
  • G - Representatives to international organizations and their families and employees
  • I - Representatives of foreign media and their families
  • J - Exchange visitors and their families
  • M - Vocational Students and their families
  • N - Parents and children of the people who have been granted special immigrant status because their parents were employed by an international organization in the United States

If you fall within any of the following categories of nonimmigrants, your employer must file, Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker with the USCIS Service Center with jurisdiction over the place you are working:

  • E - Treaty traders and investors and Australian professionals
  • H - Temporary workers
  • L - Intra-company transferees
  • O - Persons with extraordinary ability
  • P - Entertainers and athletes
  • Q - Cultural Exchange Visitors
  • R - Religious Workers
  • TN - Canadian and Mexican Professionals Under NAFTA

Family Members

If you file Form I-539 to change your status, you should include your spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21 in your application. You may include your spouse and children on your application if they are in the same nonimmigrant category as you or if they were given derivative nonimmigrant status based on your status.

If your employer files Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker for you, then your spouse and child should file Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. Both applications for change of status—your Form I-129 and the Form I-539 for your spouse and children—should be filed at the same time.

Late Filing

  • If you are late in filing for a change of status, you must prove:
  • Your delay in filing was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond your control;
  • The length of the delay was reasonable;
  • You have not done anything else to violate your status (such as working without authorization);
  • You intend to remain in the United States temporarily (there are some exceptions to this rule); and
  • You are not in removal proceedings.

Studying in the U.S.

If you were admitted to the United States as the spouse or child of someone in one of the following nonimmigrant categories, you do not need to apply to change your status to study in the United States:

  • A - Diplomatic and other government officials, and their families and employees
  • E - Treaty traders and investors
  • G - Representatives to international organizations and their families and employees
  • H - Temporary workers
  • I - Representative of foreign media and their families
  • J - Exchange visitors and their families
  • L - Intra-company transferees

If you were admitted to the United States as the spouse or child of an F-1 academic student or M-1 vocational student, you do not need to apply to change your status to attend elementary, middle, or high school in the United States. However, if you wish to attend post-secondary school full-time, you must apply for a change of status.

If you are an M-1 vocational student, you may not apply to change your status to an F-1 academic student. Also, if you are an M-1 vocational student, you may not apply to change your status to the H (temporary worker) category if the training you received in the United States is what made you qualified for the temporary worker position.