Traveling on L1 visa while waiting for AP

[cali2022]

Hi everybody,

so I have a situation where I applied for I-485, AP and EAD. Still in process. Also, I'm on L1 visa which expired and an extension is filed with USCIS (automatically got 240 days extension). I have an urgent journey soon, and my first lawyer told me that I can travel, extend my visa abroad in the embassy and that my I-485 and EAD will still be in process. Only AP will be declined and I can re-apply for the AP once I'm back in the USA.

Another lawyer told me that probably they will deny I-485, AP and EAD applications because if I leave before I get AP the government could see that as my abandonment of the pending I-485.
But also they told me that it could happen that the immigration officer keeps my application valid, so we cannot know 100% what will happen.

Now I got 2 different opinions and I'm not sure what is right. Has anybody had any experience with this? Appreciate the help.

[shiva_82]

Hi everybody,

so I have a situation where I applied for I-485, AP and EAD. Still in process. Also, I'm on L1 visa which expired and an extension is filed with USCIS (automatically got 240 days extension). I have an urgent journey soon, and my first lawyer told me that I can travel, extend my visa abroad in the embassy and that my I-485 and EAD will still be in process. Only AP will be declined and I can re-apply for the AP once I'm back in the USA.

Another lawyer told me that probably they will deny I-485, AP and EAD applications because if I leave before I get AP the government could see that as my abandonment of the pending I-485.
But also they told me that it could happen that the immigration officer keeps my application valid, so we cannot know 100% what will happen.

Now I got 2 different opinions and I'm not sure what is right. Has anybody had any experience with this? Appreciate the help.

I replied to your post on the other thread. AP might get denied but you can reapply. There won't be any impact to your 485 as you still have a valid non-immigrant visa. The only possibility I didn't think of when I wrote that response is, what will happen if your L1 extension gets denied. While I don't expect that to happen, it is a remote possibility considering it is L1. I would advise you to premium process your L1 extension, get an approval before you travel so you are not leaving the approval decision to the visa officer in the US consulate in India.

[cali2022]

I replied to your post on the other thread. AP might get denied but you can reapply. There won't be any impact to your 485 as you still have a valid non-immigrant visa. The only possibility I didn't think of when I wrote that response is, what will happen if your L1 extension gets denied. While I don't expect that to happen, it is a remote possibility considering it is L1. I would advise you to premium process your L1 extension, get an approval before you travel so you are not leaving the approval decision to the visa officer in the US consulate in India.

Thank you so much for your answer. Appreciate it. The only thing I can think of that the 2nd laywer thinks they will abandon I-485 it's because I'm on 240 days exstenion since L1 is expired and filed with USCIS.

I thought that L1 extention is just a formaliy. I'm not sure if it helps, but I'm from EU country and would fly to EU. I checked on the website, there is only few days of waitline for non-immigrant visas.

[shiva_82]

Thank you so much for your answer. Appreciate it. The only thing I can think of that the 2nd laywer thinks they will abandon I-485 it's because I'm on 240 days exstenion since L1 is expired and filed with USCIS.

I thought that L1 extention is just a formaliy. I'm not sure if it helps, but I'm from EU country and would fly to EU. I checked on the website, there is only few days of waitline for non-immigrant visas.

Sorry I assumed. If there is no wait for interview slots then there is no problem. But please do note that regardless of the location, L1s so get closely scrutinized and it's better to get the approval while in US before traveling. Just my personal experience with having got L visa from US consulate in London.

[shiva_82]

Thank you so much for your answer. Appreciate it. The only thing I can think of that the 2nd laywer thinks they will abandon I-485 it's because I'm on 240 days exstenion since L1 is expired and filed with USCIS.

I thought that L1 extention is just a formaliy. I'm not sure if it helps, but I'm from EU country and would fly to EU. I checked on the website, there is only few days of waitline for non-immigrant visas.

With regard to what the second lawyer might have thought, you are still considered to be having a valid non immigrant status even during the 240 day period as long as extension was filed before your previous visa expired.

[cali2022]

Sorry I assumed. If there is no wait for interview slots then there is no problem. But please do note that regardless of the location, L1s so get closely scrutinized and it's better to get the approval while in US before traveling. Just my personal experience with having got L visa from US consulate in London.

Yes, the extension was filed before L1 expired. I wasn't worried because the first lawyer told me no problem, and then the company changed lawyer's office and the new lawyer is afraid I could lose I-485. Thank you for taking time to help.

[newacct]

The regulations says that if you are in L1 status, your departure will not abandon I-485 if you return on L1 visa. But the problem is that you are technically not in L1 status right now. A pending application, no matter how long it has been pending, is not status. If the extension of stay is approved, then it will grant a period of status that retroactively covers the period the application was pending. However, if you leave the US, the extension of stay will be abandoned. Since you are not in status right now, I believe that your I-485 will be considered abandoned if you leave.

[cali2022]

The regulations says that if you are in L1 status, your departure will not abandon I-485 if you return on L1 visa. But the problem is that you are technically not in L1 status right now. A pending application, no matter how long it has been pending, is not status. If the extension of stay is approved, then it will grant a period of status that retroactively covers the period the application was pending. However, if you leave the US, the extension of stay will be abandoned. Since you are not in status right now, I believe that your I-485 will be considered abandoned if you leave.

Thanks for your input. So, this 240 days of exstenion (while waiting for L1 extension with USCIS) is not considered as L1 status? Even if I return with L1 exstenion from the consulate?

[newacct]

Thanks for your input. So, this 240 days of exstenion (while waiting for L1 extension with USCIS) is not considered as L1 status? Even if I return with L1 exstenion from the consulate?

A pending application is never considered status.

[cali2022]

A pending application is never considered status.

Thanks. I just can't believe that the first lawyers were telling me for months that I can travel with no problem.

[shiva_82]

Thanks. I just can't believe that the first lawyers were telling me for months that I can travel with no problem.

Hi - I believe what newacct is saying is the same as what I meant when I said it's safe to get your L1A extension approved while in US before leaving US because if your L1 extension when left to consular officer in your country gets rejected while you are out of country then you are not in status any more and hence can't return back to US and hence without a status your 485 will also be void.

The period of 240 days while you are waiting on a decision will NOT be considered out of status IF your L1 extension gets approved. THEN your 485 will not become void even if you are outside the country and return back on your L1. Hope it is clear.

[cali2022]

[QUOTE=shiva_82;n783494]



So, the problem is that I have to fly in a few days so even if I pay for the premium it won't be approved on time. Yeah, as you said if they don't approve L1 in the consular office then I cannot get back to the States and basically I'm fired from my job, but let's say they approve it (there is no reason not to approve).

"The period of 240 days while you are waiting on a decision will NOT be considered out of status IF your L1 extension gets approved. THEN your 485 will not become void even if you are outside the country and return back on your L1. Hope it is clear."

If the above is correct then I can safely go and my I-485 won't be void (hoping they will approve the L-1 extension in the consular office).

But based on what Newacct said (if I understand it right), these 240 days are not considered "in status", so I-485 will be void if I leave the States even if I got L1 approved in the consular office.

Thank you both for helping with this.

[shiva_82]

newacct is one of the experts here so I would defer to him. I'm no expert. Even in the case what newacct mentioned, as long as your extension is approved, even if 485 becomes void, you can reapply when you return and considering you are born in EU, there shouldn't be any wait time. So the only risk is of your L1 extension gets denied. I pray for you that it doesn't happen and you get your GC soon. Cheers.