H1 Approval under Consular Processing

[immi12345]

Hi,

Currently I am working on L1 and is expiring in another 3 months. I applied for H1 for this year quota as a case of Change Of Status (Not Consular Processing). Since my spouse is on H1, I thought of applying for CoS from L1 to H4 to protect the status from the time my L1 expires and the time my H1 gets activated (October). That is why I applied for H1 under CoS.

But now, I am thinking to leave the country before my L1 expires and take a vacation for a month and get H4 Visa to come back. Then, I want to apply for CoS from H4 to H1 in October.

Since I applied for H1 as CoS and I am not applying for change of status from L1 to H4, will USCIS wait till my L1 expires to approve my H1 petition under consular processing? Or is there any way we can update USCIS to approve the H1 under Consular processing instead of CoS?

Will it be an issue if I leave the country when H1 is in process under CoS?

Appreciate your help.

Thanks.

[kabkaba]

If your current L1 status does not extend until Sep 30, it is highly likely that change of status will not be approved at all in the first place.
In any case once you leave the US, change of status becomes immaterial. So you can return in any status but then your employer will have to file amendment to change your status again. Now the complicated part is that since original petition had change of status, what will your employer 'amend'?
A better way is to apply for H1 Visa when you are in your home country and return around Oct 1.