I-539 approval: Confusion

[mikelid 0]

Hi,

I applied for a change of status from within the US in July of last year. I wanted to chane from H2b working visa to a F1 student visa. after 8 long months of waiting i finally got the approval letter last week. the reason i was so eager to get this letter is so i could go home whenever i wanted, and after a year away from home i was ecstastic to be able to see my family again. however i received the approval notice and it read: this approval notice, updated i-94 and approved i-20 cannot be used as a visa and to reenter the country i must obtain a new visa in the new classification. i am confused as to what this means. does it mean i have to apply for a visa from within the US or go home and apply for it, plus all my original evidence that i would need for the application for the visa was sent off with the I-539 and is now property of the USCIS. also if i do have to apply for this new visa what would the waiting times be? i was hoping so badly that i could go home for spring break and now it doesn't look likely at all.

any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated

Mikelid

[mikelid 0]

Hi,

I applied for a change of status from within the US in July of last year. I wanted to chane from H2b working visa to a F1 student visa. after 8 long months of waiting i finally got the approval letter last week. the reason i was so eager to get this letter is so i could go home whenever i wanted, and after a year away from home i was ecstastic to be able to see my family again. however i received the approval notice and it read: this approval notice, updated i-94 and approved i-20 cannot be used as a visa and to reenter the country i must obtain a new visa in the new classification. i am confused as to what this means. does it mean i have to apply for a visa from within the US or go home and apply for it, plus all my original evidence that i would need for the application for the visa was sent off with the I-539 and is now property of the USCIS. also if i do have to apply for this new visa what would the waiting times be? i was hoping so badly that i could go home for spring break and now it doesn't look likely at all.

any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated

Mikelid

I have also contacted USCIS and recieved conflicting replies. one person said that i needed to get in touch with the department of state because USCIS dont deal with the visa part. and then the next time i called the other person was adamant that i could go home and when i come back all they would do is give me a new i-94 because i had the notice of approval stating that i had adjusted my status. i have the H2b visa in my passport but it is now expired, since i have adjusted and have the paperwork to prove it would they just accept the old H2b as my new F1? i would love it to be the case but something tells me that there is not a chance this would happen.