Please help explaining my status and options after L1B expired

[mirekti]

After reading this forum for a while I managed to comprehend many doubts in relation to L1 visa, yet my situation is specific so I would kindly ask if anyone could give me advice in how to proceed.

L1 visa expires in August 2015
5 year limit will be reached in July 2016
I-94 is valid till July 2017

I understand I can stay and work in the US till my 5 year limit which will be July 2016.
After August 2015 I cannot leave the US as I won't be able to reenter, but still can stay and work till July 2016.

Questions for my longer stay in the US:

Does my employer must file a Green Card request for me before my L1 visa expired?
What if they want to apply for my Green Card and the Visa is expired (I-94 still valid) and I didn't reach my 5 year limit (let's say in March 2016)?
What are my options to travel abroad in any of these cases i.e. does one have to have a valid visa in the passport during the GC application/process?
What kind of visa I could get in case my employer filed for GC, but my L1 has expired and I spent those 5 years in the US? I mean, I would need some kind of visa to be able to reenter the US while my GC is in process, correct?

[raghvi]

After reading this forum for a while I managed to comprehend many doubts in relation to L1 visa, yet my situation is specific so I would kindly ask if anyone could give me advice in how to proceed.

L1 visa expires in August 2015
5 year limit will be reached in July 2016
I-94 is valid till July 2017

I understand I can stay and work in the US till my 5 year limit which will be July 2016.
After August 2015 I cannot leave the US as I won't be able to reenter, but still can stay and work till July 2016.

Questions for my longer stay in the US:

Does my employer must file a Green Card request for me before my L1 visa expired?
What if they want to apply for my Green Card and the Visa is expired (I-94 still valid) and I didn't reach my 5 year limit (let's say in March 2016)?
What are my options to travel abroad in any of these cases i.e. does one have to have a valid visa in the passport during the GC application/process?
What kind of visa I could get in case my employer filed for GC, but my L1 has expired and I spent those 5 years in the US? I mean, I would need some kind of visa to be able to reenter the US while my GC is in process, correct?

1. Merely filing GC would not help you to stay beyond the 5th Year completion. You would still need a valid visa in order to stay and work in US beyond your 5th Year. GC can take many years depending upon the category and your country of birth. So determine under which category would it be filed by your employer.
2. As I said merely getting GC filed would not help you stay beyond 5th Year on L1B.
3. Options are to move to L1A or H1B till you get GC.
4. You dont get a visa when GC is filed. As said earlier, your options would be to explore moving to L1A or H1B as soon as possible.

This is my opinion not legal advice.