URGENT - L1 to H1 transfer - Travel to India without CoS approval - NEED HELP

[Chintu_USA]

Hi,

I am working with company A on L1b visa valid till Jan-2013 and my wife is working on L2 EAD with company B.

One of the consultant company C is processing our H1B with Change of Status for cap of 2013.

Our visa status is still in initial review and we need to visit India urgently for some unavoidable reasons.

Our consultant attorney says that, if we travel to India, our change of status will get abandoned and we will automatically go out of status from L1B visa as well starting from october 1st 2012.

Only way we can avoid this situation is either by avoiding the visit to India or by getting H1B stamped in October by visiting India again.

Can we by any chance do the following :

1) Visit India and apply for change of status again before october 2012? Is it possible to apply change of status from L1/2 to H1 for both me (on L1B) and my wife (on L2 visa)? If possible, how much long it will take to get processed and when should we apply before or after october?

2) If the Change of Status is abandoned by itself, will our L1B visa will remain valid and upto when? Or this will get automatically revoked?

We have already booked the tickets and going to travel this Friday. Need your desparate help.

Thanks!

[shervin143]

Our consultant attorney says that, if we travel to India, our change of status will get abandoned and we will automatically go out of status from L1B visa as well starting from october 1st 2012.
>>> The information is partially correct. If you leave the country, then the COS to H1B might get denied. But you will not go out of status on L1/L2. You will remain to be in L1/L2 status if you return back in L1/L2 visa.

Only way we can avoid this situation is either by avoiding the visit to India or by getting H1B stamped in October by visiting India again.

Can we by any chance do the following :

1) Visit India and apply for change of status again before october 2012? Is it possible to apply change of status from L1/2 to H1 for both me (on L1B) and my wife (on L2 visa)? If possible, how much long it will take to get processed and when should we apply before or after october?
>>> You need to be in U.S to apply for the COS. If you leave now and want to work for the H1B sponsor, then wait for the H1B petition to get approved, get the petition stamped and return back in H1B visa. If you enter in L1/L2 before Oct 1st, and if your H1B is approved with a new I-94, then your status will change to H1B as of the H1B effective date (Oct 1st or later) and you should be working for the H1B sponsor as of that date. If the H1B approval doesn't come with a new I-94, then you will remain to be in L1/L2 until you file a COS from L1/L2 to H1B again and it gets approved (You should be working for the L1/L2 employer until the H1B COS gets approved) or you leave the country, get the H1B visa stamped and return back in H1B visa.

2) If the Change of Status is abandoned by itself, will our L1B visa will remain valid and upto when? Or this will get automatically revoked?
>>> The visa in the passport will remain valid until its expiry date. You will remain to be in L1/L2 status until the l1/L2 I-94 remains valid.

[vickyda01]

Hi Chintu,

I am also in same situation I have L1 to H1B COS through same company X is still in process and I have to go to India next week.

I would like to know your experience with this? can you send me your mobile no at my email id [email protected] .I will really appreciate Its bit URGENT

Also my question for Shervin is

1:- Since my COS is still in progress(RFE status Review stage), can I come back to US on L1 visa ?
2:- What if H1B-COS got approved while I am in India? will my L1 be abandon immediatly after H1B-COS approval and have to go for stamping only?
3:- Is it possible your H1B got approved and COS got abandon since I am going out of US while status is RFE Review?
4:- Is there any chance I could get the H1B-COS approval after coming to US as well or I have to reapply for H1B-COS again in next year quota?
5:- Is H1B and COS are two different thing?

I really appreciate your help on this


Thanks,
Vikram

[raghvi]

Hi Chintu,

I am also in same situation I have L1 to H1B COS through same company X is still in process and I have to go to India next week.

I would like to know your experience with this? can you send me your mobile no at my email id [email protected] .I will really appreciate Its bit URGENT

Also my question for Shervin is

1:- Since my COS is still in progress(RFE status Review stage), can I come back to US on L1 visa ?
2:- What if H1B-COS got approved while I am in India? will my L1 be abandon immediatly after H1B-COS approval and have to go for stamping only?
3:- Is it possible your H1B got approved and COS got abandon since I am going out of US while status is RFE Review?
4:- Is there any chance I could get the H1B-COS approval after coming to US as well or I have to reapply for H1B-COS again in next year quota?
5:- Is H1B and COS are two different thing?

I really appreciate your help on this


Thanks,
Vikram

Is this fresh H1 for 2012 quota? If yes, I am surprised you havent got an approval yet. Its never advised to travel while a COS is pending or in RFE.

1. As long as your L1 visa in passport is valid you can enter US on L1.
2. In most likelihood the COS to H1 will get denied. If you are outside US COS is not applicable as a result there is neither L1 or H1 status. But yes, if you want to enter US on H1 you will have to get H1 stamped.
3. Yes generally thats what happens, the H1 petition gets approved but COS gets abandoned, also it means that subsequently H1 will be effective only after another trip outside US, H1 stamping abroad and return to US on H1.
4. As the H1 petition will remain valid unless withdrawn, if you enter US on L1 and then get an approval for L1 to H1 based on the COS filed before you left then you will never know what is your actual status as you would end up having two I-94, one given at the time of entry on L1 and another obtained by L1 to H1 COS approval. This can create all sorts of confusions later on. To confirm that oen is oon H1 you will eventually have to leave US , get H1 stamped abroad and enter on H1.
5. H1B petition, H1 Visa stamp in passport and I-94 are all different things. Also, one can have only one immigrant status as ant given point while in US. COS, Change Of Status, is filed for moving from any one status to another, such as H1 to L2, L2 to H4, L2 to H1, etc etc.

Again advisable to not travel till COS decision comes in, and if travel is unavoidable advised to get H1 stamped and return on H1 in order to avoid another trip later on in case you want to move to H1.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[vickyda01]

----vikram --- so if I go outside my cos will abondan and my status on l1 will be unknown ???
What if I didn't get h1 approval while i m in india? Definatly Cos will abandon but what about my h1b visa? Can I still get h1b approval and apply for COS again in January ? If I couldnt apply for cos How much time I will have to go India and get stamped? Can I work on l1 and 3 month later get stamped in India?
Let's say I went to India for stamping and rejected, can I still enter us on my l1 visa ?

[raghvi]

----vikram --- so if I go outside my cos will abondan and my status on l1 will be unknown ???
What if I didn't get h1 approval while i m in india? Definatly Cos will abandon but what about my h1b visa? Can I still get h1b approval and apply for COS again in January ? If I couldnt apply for cos How much time I will have to go India and get stamped? Can I work on l1 and 3 month later get stamped in India?
Let's say I went to India for stamping and rejected, can I still enter us on my l1 visa ?

Is this fresh H1? When is the start date of H1 as per I129? Till when is your L1 visa in passport valid upto?

The L1 to H1 COS will get abandoned, the H1 petition will be valid. Even if your petition gets approved, in order to move to H1 in January, you will have to leave US again and re enter on H1 after H1 stamping.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[vickyda01]

Thanks
Yes it is fresh visa. I have valid l1 visa till 2015. I don't know what's the start date I believe it could be oct 1 2012.
So how much time I could get for stamping if I got approval in jan.?
Can I stay for 2-3 month on l1 and than go for h1 stamping?
Will my l1 become invalid after petition approval?
Do I have to go for stamping immediately ?

[raghvi]

Thanks
Yes it is fresh visa. I have valid l1 visa till 2015. I don't know what's the start date I believe it could be oct 1 2012.
So how much time I could get for stamping if I got approval in jan.?
Can I stay for 2-3 month on l1 and than go for h1 stamping?
Will my l1 become invalid after petition approval?
Do I have to go for stamping immediately ?

Just out of curiosity, why did your company apply for H1 when you have a valid L1 till 2015?

When you say L1 valid till 2015 I am assuming you have it stamped in your passport as 2015. If yes, you are good to enter US on L1 till that date.

If you are in US when H1 COS approval comes, and havent traveled out of US after COS application, you automatically move to H1 from the H1 petition start date 01-Oct-2012 or whatever it is. You are no longer on L1 from that date. In order to get back to L1 after H1 start date you have to either file H1 to L1 COS or go out of US and come back on L1 visa.

If you are travellign outside US while COS is pending, it is generally a good practice to inform USCIS to convert COS to Consular Processing. Because if you dont do so, and if you are out of US when COS approval comes (yes it is possible, as USCIS might not be aware of your departure from US if not told so) when you re-enter, on L1 you end up having two different I-94s and will not know whether you are in L1 or H1 search and read about last action rule.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[sampada712]

L1 to H1 Transfer - India travel after approval

Hi,

I need some help in understanding L1 to h1 transfer process.
I work with company A and have L1(extension not stamped yet) valid till 2015. Company B is ready to sponsor my H1 this April. I have few questions as I need to travel to India while this process is going on.

1. Once company B applies my H1 in April, can I travel on my L1 and come back after L1 stamping. Or do I have to wait till I get my H1 approval to leave the country?
2. If 1st case in not possible, can I travel on my L1 and come back after L1 stamping, once I get my H1 approval(which may be very earlier than October due to premium processing).

If H1 works out , I want to join company B from October and work on my L1 till that time. Best thing for me would be, wait till April, apply H1 and then go on vacation.
Please let me know what are possibilities here.

Thanks,
Sampada