L1-H1 COS, 2 week notice period.

[piyush12345]

Hi,

I am in US on L1 and planning to apply for change of status from L1- H1. Assuming that my new employer will file my H1 petition with an employment start date of Feb 1st 2011 through premium processing and petition gets approved by 15th Jan 2011,

1. Will my H1 status starts from Feb 1st when I join my new employer ?
2. Will I be on L1 status between 15th Jan to 31st Jan ? Can I serve my notice period during this period with existing employer ?
3. If I decide to terminate my employment with existing employer by 22nd Jan i.e. after 1 week of notice , in that case what would be my status from 22nd Jan to 31st Jan ? Will I be out of status and will it cause any issue in future ?

Would appreciate your help !!

Regards,
Piyush

[shervin143]

1. Will my H1 status starts from Feb 1st when I join my new employer ?
>>> Yes. If that is the effective date of your H1B in the approval notice, then that is when your status will change from L1 To H1B. Starting that date, you should be employed with the H1B employer.

2. Will I be on L1 status between 15th Jan to 31st Jan ? Can I serve my notice period during this period with existing employer ?
>>> Yes. Yu need to be employed with the H1B employer on the effective date of the COS (check the approval notice).

3. If I decide to terminate my employment with existing employer by 22nd Jan i.e. after 1 week of notice , in that case what would be my status from 22nd Jan to 31st Jan ? Will I be out of status and will it cause any issue in future ?
>>> Yes, you will be out of status on L1 and it could cause you issues later.

[piyush12345]

3. If I decide to terminate my employment with existing employer by 22nd Jan i.e. after 1 week of notice , in that case what would be my status from 22nd Jan to 31st Jan ? Will I be out of status and will it cause any issue in future ?
>>> Yes, you will be out of status on L1 and it could cause you issues later.

>>> As I understand from your comment it is advisable to maintain L1 status till I join my new H1 employer. Now if my last day with current employer ends on Friday and I join my new H1 employer on Monday, then again I will be out of status on Saturday and Sunday. Is that correct ? Is it a major concern since I presume their would be many individuals who may run into this kind of situation. Any advise on how to best approach the situation ?

[txh1b]

Not an issue for the weekend.