L1B to H1B petition approved, COS abandoned.

[Vinod Kannan]

Hello,

It will be of great help if you could clarify my doubt.
I applied for change of status L1B to H1b through a consultant, It was in initial review and I had to travel to India for unavoidable reason. H1B petition got approved but COS got denied as I was in India while USCIS approve my petition. Now I came back to US (sep21st 2013) on L1B and they have given a new I94 which is valid till 2016.

1. Can I stay with my L1B visa with the previous employer as the COS is denied and I entered the US with my L1B, does the oct1st deadline affect me ?
2. Can I go to India for stamping on a later date say Jan 2014 to get my H1 stamped ?

[raghvi]

Hello,

It will be of great help if you could clarify my doubt.
I applied for change of status L1B to H1b through a consultant, It was in initial review and I had to travel to India for unavoidable reason. H1B petition got approved but COS got denied as I was in India while USCIS approve my petition. Now I came back to US (sep21st 2013) on L1B and they have given a new I94 which is valid till 2016.

1. Can I stay with my L1B visa with the previous employer as the COS is denied and I entered the US with my L1B, does the oct1st deadline affect me ?
2. Can I go to India for stamping on a later date say Jan 2014 to get my H1 stamped ?

1. Yes you can work with L1 employer as your COS to H1 got denied and you would not automatically move to H1 on 01-Oct-2013.
2. Yes if the H1 petition was approved and you have the latest h1 employment related docs at that time.

This is my opinion not legal advice.