Switching from L1B to H1B by resigning

**geoissac** · 04-20-2010, 04:51 PM

I have a valid L1B visa and working in US for a Company A. and am suppose to finish my assignment in May and return to my native country. I have been offered an H1 visa by Company B but they are just filing the H1.

So my doubts are

1. If i quit my company A by the end of my assignment i.e May end and by this time company B has filed for an H1B for me can i continue to stay in US
2. Would it be advisable to go for premium processing?
3. If i cannot stay in US do i have to go back to my country and wait for oct 1st and get my visa stamped and then come back?
4. What is COS and how does that help my cause? is filing for an H1 a COS request??
5. what will i have to do if my COS request is denied.

Thanks for ur help in advance

**shervin143** · 04-20-2010, 04:59 PM

1. If i quit my company A by the end of my assignment i.e May end and by this time company B has filed for an H1B for me can i continue to stay in US
>> You cannot. You need a valid stagus to stay in U.S. With your current job ending, there will be no L1 status and until the H1B is approved, there is no H1B status.

2. Would it be advisable to go for premium processing?
>> If you already had an H1B, then yes. If not, then it will be afresh H1B and there is no use in going for premium. You can start working only from Oct 1st.

3. If i cannot stay in US do i have to go back to my country and wait for oct 1st and get my visa stamped and then come back?
>>> That is correct.

4. What is COS and how does that help my cause? is filing for an H1 a COS request??
>>> COS means chnage of status. That is applicable only if you are changing your status from one to another. In your case L1 to H1B. But in order for the COS to go through successfully, you need to be working in L1 until Oct 1st. Otherwise, you will go out of status and COS is not possible when you are OOS.

5. what will i have to do if my COS request is denied.
>>> Leave the country immediately.

**geoissac** · 04-22-2010, 12:54 PM

2. I am not concerned about working when i quit. I know i can only work from Oct 1st. But my doubt is can i stay in US with an approved COS from L1b to H1B??
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**shervin143** · 04-22-2010, 01:21 PM

What will be your status when you are not working for either L1 or H1B employer? Your H1B status will become effective only from Oct 1st. If you want to take the risk of being out of status until your H1B is effective, then that is your call.

**geoissac** · 04-22-2010, 01:27 PM

While i am still on my L1B if my new employer files for an H1B premium processing and the petition gets accepted that would allow me to stay???

**shervin143** · 04-22-2010, 01:32 PM

You are not getting the point. Your H1B petition could get approved today. That doesn't mean that your status changed to H1B effective today. There is a "Valid From" date on the approval notice. Your status changes to H1B only on that date. If you don't work for the L1 employer until your status legally changes to H1B (Meaning, until the "Valid From" date on the H1B approval notice), you will be considered out of status (If you don't work for the L1 employer but your I-94 is still valid) or illegal (If your I-94 has expired) which would cause issues later.