Uncertainities on H4, L1 visa status

[nrevo]

Hi All

I have been working in the US on a L1 visa for the past 2 years, and due to personal reasons, had to move to the West coast and apparently out of my current project. While my company is looking out for projects for me in the West, they have given me 3 weeks bench period. So if nothing works out then I will need to quit my company.

My husband is working here on H1, so as a backup plan we have initiated my H4 visa. My concern is:

1. If within the next few weeks, my parent company is able to provide me with a project here, will my L1 be still valid or it goes void since I applied for my H4? (NOTE: I have not yet quit my company)
2. Can I cancel my H4 in order to continue to work on L1, considering H4 approval will take 2-3 months. Or do I have the option of overriding my H4 with L1 if I don't leave the country?
3. Meanwhile, if I get a sponsor for H1, should I apply for it?

It's imperative for me to stay on L1 or H1 in order to be working here. The whole change of status seems so confusing for me, I am not sure what's the best to be done.

Any help on my status would highly be appreciated!

Regards
NRevo

[shervin143]

1. If within the next few weeks, my parent company is able to provide me with a project here, will my L1 be still valid or it goes void since I applied for my H4? (NOTE: I have not yet quit my company)
>>> Your L1 is valid until the H4 gets approved. When the H4 gets approved, you can no longer work for the L1 employer unless you go out of the country and re-enter back in L1 visa.

2. Can I cancel my H4 in order to continue to work on L1, considering H4 approval will take 2-3 months.
>>> It's possible provided your application is not taken for processing.

Or do I have the option of overriding my H4 with L1 if I don't leave the country?
>>> That is not a option. Read ans. 1 to see how to get back to L1 again.

3. Meanwhile, if I get a sponsor for H1, should I apply for it?
>>> You can. Search and read about the last action rule. Your status will change as per the last received I-94. If it is H1B, then you need to start working for the H1 employer immediately upon receiving the approval notice with I-94. If H4 gets approved last, then you should stop working. In order to avoid confusions and not to mess up your status, it is not advisable to apply for a different types of COS at the same time.

[nrevo]

Uncertainities on H4, L1 visa status

Thanks Shervin for your response!

Will I need to file a new L1 petition or the same would hold true when I re-enter the country.

How will I know if my H4 has been taken up for processing. Is there a site to check that? Also what is the typical time frame to get H4 approved?

Regards
NRevo

[shervin143]

Will I need to file a new L1 petition or the same would hold true when I re-enter the country.
>>> If the old petition is still valid, then just re-enter with that petition and a valid L1 visa, which will get you a new I-94 associated with the L1 putting yo back into the L1 status.

How will I know if my H4 has been taken up for processing.
>>> You can't really tell. Maybe you can check to see if the check that you sent for H4 processing has been cashed or not. But that is not accurate all the time.

Is there a site to check that?
>>> You can check the status in USCIS website under case status tracking. But that is not accurate as well, since sometimes it takes a lot of time to get that site updated compare to the actual processing.

Also what is the typical time frame to get H4 approved?
>>> 2 - 4 months.