COS To Counselar for H1

[pankaj23k]

Dear all

I am currently on L1b visa with I94 valid till feb 15 but visa already expired on 2012 feb.
I applied for h1 this year and it got approved . But my employer did it with COS process.
I want to work with existing employer till my L1 i94 expiry date. Ie feb 2015
I asked new employer to make the process from COS To counselar process and attorney suggested that since peretion is approved , it is risk to change the process to counselar.
Even petetion may be denies in this case
My question is:
If while changing from COS to counselar , they deny the approved petetion, can i still stay in US AND work on my existing l1b i94 or will that also get void,?

Kindly help
Thanks in advance

[peace999]

H1 petition approval is one thing( first step) and a COS to H1b is another (separate optional step; option with consular)).

Please post if both have been completed or only your H1b petition is approved.
IF COS has been completed also , that means you should have a new I-94 with an H1b stamp and a new date.

Please post.

[pankaj23k]

COS To Counselar for H1

I have h1 petetion approved with valid I94 dates on it.. Since it was done under cos process.

Now i wish to convert it to counselar , so that from oct 1st my status remains L1b and not converts to h1.
Since i want to continue to work with my L1 employer till i hv valid i94 with L1

Question is
If i change from Cos to counselar, if it gets denies. And hence my approved petetion will be denied. Can i still work and stay here on my L1b visa,?? Will it be affected?

Thanks much

[peace999]

your status is already converted to H1b . to get it back to L1b you have to apply for COS again H1b to L1b .

This is not recommended. You should have opted for consular when petition was approved and not applied for COS L1 to H1b.

[raghvi]

I believe am amendment can be filed along with a letter explaining the need . but first it depends upon the employer if they agree or not, secondly, USCIS also has to get convinced and approve it and all this before 01 Oct. Instead of this the easiest for you would be to do a leapfrog. That is leave US before COS date and return on L1 visa a week or so after COS date.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[raghvi]

I missed, that your L1 has already expired so you won't be able to come back. There is no other way than to convince the H1 employer to file an amendment in premium and hope USCIS approves it before 01 Oct. How 5 additional months matters? Is it because your spouse is also working?

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[pankaj23k]

Yes raghvi, my spouse is working and so i want to utilize L1 b i94 visa time as much as i can.
Yes my employer is ready to do amendmend in premiuim to change it to counselar.
Question is again.. In case while doing amendmend, uscis rejects my petetion which was previously approved.. Will my L1B i94 status be void or it wont be affected??

[raghvi]

Yes raghvi, my spouse is working and so i want to utilize L1 b i94 visa time as much as i can.
Yes my employer is ready to do amendmend in premiuim to change it to counselar.
Question is again.. In case while doing amendmend, uscis rejects my petetion which was previously approved.. Will my L1B i94 status be void or it wont be affected??

I dont think that your L1 would be affected.

This is my opinion not legal advice.