Traveling back to India while L1-B in RFE response review and H1B COS RFE

[sumanb101]

Hi Ragvi, appreciate your efforts answering many immigration queries. Most of the times I had gone through the forum to get answers for the queries but now I got to post one for a expert advise;

I am on L1-B visa here in US now,
my I-94 got expired in Mar -2014
L1-B expired in June -2014
Applied for extension in Mar-2014 before my I-94 end date, but got an RFE in Apr -2014. For which we have replied back with docs at the end of June -2014 (before 90 day period) and it is in 'response review' state now.

My employer applied for L1-B to H1b COS this year but got an RFE which was expected which is due in Sep-2014.

While this is the situation I want to travel back to India as my employer is not ready to upgrade it to PP for a faster decision and I have the following questions in my mind

1. Can I travel back to India? (I believe yes)
2. If it is yes, what happens to my extension which is in review state now?
3. What happens to my COS RFE?
4. What should I ask my employer to make the H1b counselor processing rather COS?
5. Is there anything else that I should know prior to booking my tickets at this point?

[raghvi]

Hi Ragvi, appreciate your efforts answering many immigration queries. Most of the times I had gone through the forum to get answers for the queries but now I got to post one for a expert advise;

I am on L1-B visa here in US now,
my I-94 got expired in Mar -2014
L1-B expired in June -2014
Applied for extension in Mar-2014 before my I-94 end date, but got an RFE in Apr -2014. For which we have replied back with docs at the end of June -2014 (before 90 day period) and it is in 'response review' state now.

My employer applied for L1-B to H1b COS this year but got an RFE which was expected which is due in Sep-2014.

While this is the situation I want to travel back to India as my employer is not ready to upgrade it to PP for a faster decision and I have the following questions in my mind

1. Can I travel back to India? (I believe yes)
2. If it is yes, what happens to my extension which is in review state now?
3. What happens to my COS RFE?
4. What should I ask my employer to make the H1b counselor processing rather COS?
5. Is there anything else that I should know prior to booking my tickets at this point?

1. Yes you can.
2. Extension request doesnt hold much meaning as you are no longer in US. Understand, while in US one is requesting extension of stay and work, not visa, once you leave whats the need for extension? You anyhow have to get a new visa stamped in order to return.
3. COS is considered abandoned if one leaves while it is pending. So if H1 RFE is responded to in a timely manner it might get approved as consular.
4. Yes. While responding to RFE they can make it consular processing.
5. Avoid Europe routes while leaving. Some transit points in Europe require a valid US visa.

This is my opinion not legal advice.