HELP - L1A Renewal but I94 is valid for more than 6 Months

[burrows_savio15]

Hello Everyone,

Greetings!

I am really having a bad situation and am not able to find answers anywhere. I am currently on L1A Blanket Visa for 4 years and 3 months now, my L1A visa will be expired on 19th Oct 2017 which is little over a week from now however my I94 is valid until 26th May 2018. I submitted all the necessary papers to my legal team a month ago and got an email from them last week stating that they cannot file my L1A extension now because, as per USCIS Policy they can only file an extension if my I94 date falls within 6 months range. But in my case my I94 expiry date is more than 8 months from now. I don't think I can wait this long until Dec 2017, which will be within the 6 months to file for an extension because, I will have to leave the country anytime before that incase of an emergency situation in my family, after which I can leave the country but will not be able to come back.

Response from my Legal Team
"Because the I-94 is the controlling document and expiration date on a Blanket L Visa. This means we cannot file the L1 extension now. Per USCIS policy, we can only file an extension 6 months (earliest) prior to the I-94 expiration date"

Questions ?
What are the other options available for me at this time to file for an extension ?
Is the 6 months period a true statement (where the employer cannot file for an extension before 6 months from the date of I94 expiry)

Please suggest what best can be done in this situation. Thank You all for this lovely forum.

Thanks
David.

[newacct]

Hello Everyone,

Greetings!

I am really having a bad situation and am not able to find answers anywhere. I am currently on L1A Blanket Visa for 4 years and 3 months now, my L1A visa will be expired on 19th Oct 2017 which is little over a week from now however my I94 is valid until 26th May 2018. I submitted all the necessary papers to my legal team a month ago and got an email from them last week stating that they cannot file my L1A extension now because, as per USCIS Policy they can only file an extension if my I94 date falls within 6 months range. But in my case my I94 expiry date is more than 8 months from now. I don't think I can wait this long until Dec 2017, which will be within the 6 months to file for an extension because, I will have to leave the country anytime before that incase of an emergency situation in my family, after which I can leave the country but will not be able to come back.

Response from my Legal Team
"Because the I-94 is the controlling document and expiration date on a Blanket L Visa. This means we cannot file the L1 extension now. Per USCIS policy, we can only file an extension 6 months (earliest) prior to the I-94 expiration date"

Questions ?
What are the other options available for me at this time to file for an extension ?
Is the 6 months period a true statement (where the employer cannot file for an extension before 6 months from the date of I94 expiry)

Please suggest what best can be done in this situation. Thank You all for this lovely forum.

Thanks
David.

They are right and what you are asking for doesn't make any sense.

You are asking them to apply for an extension of status, but your status lasts until May 2018, so it would make no sense to apply for an extension of status until your status is almost expiring.

It seems like you are confused because your visa is expiring, but the visa has nothing to do with status. A US visa is only for entry to the US, and you don't need a visa if you are staying in the US. If you leave the US and want to come back after the visa is expired, you will need to get a new visa at a US consulate at the foreign location you will be in before coming back. Getting an extension of status does not change that, because, again, status has nothing to do with the visa. Extension of status simply extends the amount of time you can stay during this particular stay. An extension of status does not give you a visa; a US visa can only be applied for at a US consulate outside the US. Regardless of whether or not you get an extension of status, when you leave the US, you will cease to have any status, and to return to the US, you will need a valid visa; and if your visa is already expired at the time you want to come back, you will need to apply for a new visa at a US consulate when you are abroad before you come back. Again, this is true whether or not you get extension of status, so it makes no sense for you to ask for extension of status.

I don't know why you say "I can leave the country but will not be able to come back". You will be able to come back to the US once you get a US visa, which you will be able to get on the basis of your L1a petition which is still valid for some period of time at that time (even if not extended).

There is no way to get around the need to get a new visa at some point at a US consulate abroad if you want to leave and re-enter the US after the current visa expires. If you are worried about not having enough time to get the visa during an urgent trip in the future, the only thing you can do is find an earlier time when you have enough time, to go abroad and apply for a visa early (perhaps in Canada or Mexico, not necessarily your home country). Again, this has nothing to do with extension of status.

[burrows_savio15]

They are right and what you are asking for doesn't make any sense.

You are asking them to apply for an extension of status, but your status lasts until May 2018, so it would make no sense to apply for an extension of status until your status is almost expiring.

It seems like you are confused because your visa is expiring, but the visa has nothing to do with status. A US visa is only for entry to the US, and you don't need a visa if you are staying in the US. If you leave the US and want to come back after the visa is expired, you will need to get a new visa at a US consulate at the foreign location you will be in before coming back. Getting an extension of status does not change that, because, again, status has nothing to do with the visa. Extension of status simply extends the amount of time you can stay during this particular stay. An extension of status does not give you a visa; a US visa can only be applied for at a US consulate outside the US. Regardless of whether or not you get an extension of status, when you leave the US, you will cease to have any status, and to return to the US, you will need a valid visa; and if your visa is already expired at the time you want to come back, you will need to apply for a new visa at a US consulate when you are abroad before you come back. Again, this is true whether or not you get extension of status, so it makes no sense for you to ask for extension of status.

I don't know why you say "I can leave the country but will not be able to come back". You will be able to come back to the US once you get a US visa, which you will be able to get on the basis of your L1a petition which is still valid for some period of time at that time (even if not extended).

There is no way to get around the need to get a new visa at some point at a US consulate abroad if you want to leave and re-enter the US after the current visa expires. If you are worried about not having enough time to get the visa during an urgent trip in the future, the only thing you can do is find an earlier time when you have enough time, to go abroad and apply for a visa early (perhaps in Canada or Mexico, not necessarily your home country). Again, this has nothing to do with extension of status.

Hi There,

Thank You very much for your reply, appreciate you taking the time and responding to my query. I think may be I was confused with my question, anyway I think I understood the jist of it. This actually leads to another question. So lets say my company applies for an L1A extention from US when my I94 date is nearing, will that be Blanket or individual ? I am hearing that if I am in US and if my company applies for an L1A ext while I am in the US, it cannot be Blanket, it will only be individual, is this true ? If this is a true statement assuming my company applies for an L1A individual petition and if I get approved, when I go to India, should I go over the interview process again ? or can I use the drop box for Visa stamping ?

Again, I am trying to understand so I can do the right thing. Please suggest.

Once again, thanks for your reply my friend.

Thanks
Dave