Ms. F was working full-time in the United States on an L-1 work visa, and her family was with her in L-2 status. For personal reasons, Ms. F needed to change her own status to F-1 and move both family members to F-2 at the same time.

• Going from a work visa to a student visa is a big jump in status.
• The dependents' status hinges on the principal applicant; if the principal petition is questioned, the whole family is affected.
• All three had to change status in sync; being off by even one day could leave a gap in status.
• The window was tight: approval had to come before the program started.

• Reviewed the file for risk points and made sure the materials were complete and error-free the first time.
• Built a tailored explanation of why a change from work visa to student visa made sense given the client's background.
• Moved the principal and dependent applications forward together.

Date	Milestone
07/23/2026	Filed with premium processing
08/05/2026	All three approved

The hard part of a work-to-student change is not the procedure. It is making the case for the change clearly, based on each person's own background, while keeping the risk in the file as low as possible.

All three family members moved from L-1/L-2 to F-1/F-2, approved 13 days after filing with premium processing.