H4 - H1 COS Pending & Travel

[amitbajaj]

I have question here ,

There is COS application pending for H4 to H1b in pending status for the start date of Oct 1 ,2013.And applicant needs to travel outside US in July-August and the scenarios are :

1. applicant gets COS approval with premium and then travel and comeback to US on H4 .And then start working on H1 from Oct 1 onwards. Does that sounds okay ? (as per leapfrog or last action rule)

2. Let COS application be in processing and travel outside US ,

2a - Application gets approved while outside US ,get the Visa stamp and comeback only on/after Oct 1,2013
2b - Application still in process while he/she comes back , then it get approved.What it needs to be done to start working on Oct 1,2013 ?

Thanks for the advice.

[kabkaba]

No problem with 1 or 2a.

For 2b, if the petition is approved with change of status, no problem. If approved without change of status, you will have to change status to H1 before you can start working. It can be done by either the employer filing an amendment or traveling out and returning with H1B Visa.

[amitbajaj]

Thanks kabkaba.
So for 2b , if employer files an amendment ,how much time & cost it takes ?

No problem with 1 or 2a.

For 2b, if the petition is approved with change of status, no problem. If approved without change of status, you will have to change status to H1 before you can start working. It can be done by either the employer filing an amendment or traveling out and returning with H1B Visa.