Maintaining valid status while my case was pending — what I had to track

A genuinely practical concern that doesn't get much airtime here: I had to keep my own underlying nonimmigrant status valid throughout the (long) period my EB-1A case was pending, since the petition being filed doesn't by itself change or extend my status day to day. What I actually tracked: my current status's expiration date, well in advance, cross-referenced against my case's expected timeline, so I could plan any necessary extensions or status maintenance steps before running into a gap. This became its own parallel tracking task alongside the actual EB-1A evidence-gathering — two different clocks running at once, and I don't think I fully appreciated that distinction going in. If you're in a similar position (building an EB-1A case while on some other status): I'd genuinely recommend treating "keep my current status valid and current" as its own explicit checklist item from day one, not something to only think about once the EB-1A case itself feels closer to done.