genuine unpaid leave

[harikb]

Hello guys,

I came to US to pursue masters, and have started working on H1b while working on my thesis in parallel. Meanwhile my advisor did not get his tenure approved, and had to leave the university. So I had to abandon my thesis work, and had to register for extra courses. My employer and the client I work for are okay to let me go to university for 2 months, but my employer did not pay me for the period (no paystubs for this period). So my year-end wages fell short of the LCA amount.
I know that unpaid leave is not legal while on bench, but since I took the leave while I was actually on a project, does anybody think mine is a genuine case, if there is any such thing??

I am looking to go for stamping, and is really urgent

guys please reply

Hari

[hiralal]

when situation is urgent - JUST GO !!!! - remember life is short and there is life beyond US too ..also --consult a lawyer ..don't rely on free advice ..most likely you should be o.k. but many out here are on EAD's and H1 rules keep changing.
my feeling is if you still have valid job (even though you had some unpaid) ..you should be o.k. . but lately there have been horror stories of harrasment ...so in the end prepare for worst and hope for best

[supender]

For stamping you should not need pay stubs to prove your staus. Uninterrupted pay stubs are very important for change of status when you are applying while in US. When you leave US you dont have a status, the visa officer should not base his decision on the continuity of pay stubs. I went through a very similar situation, my change of satus was denied even though I was on genuine unpaid leave. However I ended up leaving the country and getting H1B stamped in India with no problems.