L1 to H1 transfer

[anutripa]

Hi

Currently I am working for company A on a L1 visa which is valid till April 2014. I had an offer from company B which filed for my COS to H1 effective October 1st. I had some questions with regard to same:

1. Can the company A revoke the L1 visa before I join the company B. (Resignations are not taken sportingly in my current company). If Yes, what are my options ? Will I be out of status for this period. Currently 25 days are left till October 1st.
2. How early is it safe for me to leave the company A. If I have the option of choosing start date, how early can I move out before October 1st. 29th Sept is a weekend. So last date can be 28th or before that ?
3. Is it possible for me to continue with company A for after October 1st, in case the company needs me ?

My wife is currently working on H1. In case of an issue can I go from L1 to h4 to h1, although current change of status is from L1 to H1.

I resigned today and I am not sure how things will be going from here. Please let me know what are my options.

[raghvi]

Hi

Currently I am working for company A on a L1 visa which is valid till April 2014. I had an offer from company B which filed for my COS to H1 effective October 1st. I had some questions with regard to same:

1. Can the company A revoke the L1 visa before I join the company B. (Resignations are not taken sportingly in my current company). If Yes, what are my options ? Will I be out of status for this period. Currently 25 days are left till October 1st.
2. How early is it safe for me to leave the company A. If I have the option of choosing start date, how early can I move out before October 1st. 29th Sept is a weekend. So last date can be 28th or before that ?
3. Is it possible for me to continue with company A for after October 1st, in case the company needs me ?

My wife is currently working on H1. In case of an issue can I go from L1 to h4 to h1, although current change of status is from L1 to H1.

I resigned today and I am not sure how things will be going from here. Please let me know what are my options.

Assuming your COS is approved, from 01 Oct 2012 you need to work only for Company B and be on their payroll. You should not work with Employer A.

1. Worst case company may terminate you with the notice period and if the notice period ends before 01 Oct say on Sep 20th 2012 (2 Weeks Notice) then technically you would be Out of Status from 20th Sep 2012 till 01-Oct-2012. Whether that will affect your future visa applications or green Card cannot be predicted as it depends on the VO.

2. Technically the best option would be to Work till Sept 28th with Employer A and be with Employer B from 01 Oct 2012.

3. As mentioned earlier, you should not work with Employer A as you would be in H1 Status from 01 Oct 2012, if you want to work for Employer A then you would have to go out of US and return on L1 stamping to regain L1 status.

With only 25 Days left it will be nearly impossible to get L1 to H4 COS approval. Also, as per COS you would be in H1 from 01-Oct-2012, applying for L1 to H4 will complicate your status read about last action rule.

Well now that you have resigned some things will depend upon your contractual obligation with your current company too. This is my opinion not legal advice.