B1 VISA - Status change to L1A

[barany]

Hi,
I am an employee of a multi national company in India, which has business across the globe including the US on a niche segment. I am currently in US on B1 VISA to attend various meetings towards improving our service to this region and augmenting revenue. Now, I am close to my I-94 validity date.. While at it and ready to return back to India in a week's time, my company wants me to manage this specific vertical operations in US (due to my decade experience in this vertical and travelled for the same multiple times to many countries including US from the same company) by transferring me to US office and hence would be applying for change of status to L1A in expedited mode so that I can actually be transferred and work in the US. Note: I had travelled to US on B1(multiple short trips) and L1(1.5yrs) earlier for the respective purpose the VISA was intended for. I had also held managerial positions within the same Organization in a foreign country earlier. This is a plan shift for my family too and hence want to approach this with required caution.

My queries are -
#1 How good are my chances of getting this VISA status change to L1A ? What are the things that I had to be really concernd about for this VISA/status change?
#2 What exactly will happen as change of status - Will there be an I-94 extension ? or a new I-94 associated to L1A ? or Will I get the VISA only after going through the US consulate interview within my country.. In my case - India.

[peace999]

This time, when did you arrive and what is the last date on your I-94?.

*Status change, if approved, means USCIS will send you a new I-94 with an L1 stamp and a new expiry date.


*Status change processing takes time-- several weeks . If you file your change of status (COS) now,
obviously, the response will come when your current I-94 is expired ( you said you are close to I-94 expiry).
If it is an approval , fine . If it is a denial, you are out of status immediately and must leave asap.
If you delay, you will have problems re-entering on your B1 next time ( possible visa cancellation and sending back).

* If approved, the status change is only on the I-94. Nothing is done to the visa.
That means if you need to travel to India, you cannot re-enter because you donot have an L-1 visa.
You will have to apply for a visa to come back. And that is on the discretion of the officer.
Sometimes they view status change history in the US negatively.

*My advice to you is to return to India before the I-94 expires and apply for an L-1 at the embassy.


Still, if it is really important and you do not see a reason to travel to India in the near future,
you should get a good immigration lawyer so COS gets approved.