L1 to H1 conversion question

[kittuvish]

Hello

I am currently on L1B and will be completing my 5 years in mid February 2012 when my current L1B based I-94 expires. My employer is filing for my H1B as well this year that will give me another 1 year of stay here.
However I am not sure if I need to get the H1B petition approved before mid February 2012 in order to continue to stay in the US.

Please let me know if I will need to leave US in case my H1B petition approval does not reach me by mid February 2012 or if I can still continue to stay based upon the H1B application request that is submitted.

And would you recommend going thru the premium processing to get the approval well before mid February 2012.

Thanks
Vishal

[shervin143]

The H1B petition need to be approved for you to stay and work in H1B status. It is important that the H1B gets approved before the end of the 5th year in L1. If your employer is filing the H1B now, then they can file it in normal process. It will take 2-4 months to get the decision. If they are filing it later, then it is advisable to go for premium.

[kittuvish]

Thanks for your answer. The LCA is being posted now so I am assuming the petition is not going to get filed in the next 4 weeks which probably requires premium processing. One doubt I had is whether there is a greater chance of RFE/rejections when filing thru premium process or vice versa.

[shervin143]

LCA will take hardly 10-12 days. The process of the H1B approval is same for normal and premium. As long as the documents are in place, it should not be an issue.

Thanks for your answer. The LCA is being posted now so I am assuming the petition is not going to get filed in the next 4 weeks which probably requires premium processing. One doubt I had is whether there is a greater chance of RFE/rejections when filing thru premium process or vice versa.

[kittuvish]

Thanks a lot. I will then request for a premium processing thru my employer if it would not impact the petition negatively.