L1 A to H1 B conversion after 7 years

[ajo]

I came to US on L1B visa on March 2010. My visa expired on August 2012 but i am still working in US since my I94 is valid till March 2015. My company has applied for a fresh L1 A visa for me and have booked an interview for me in Canada in April 2014. My company will also be applying green card for me sometime next year, the category will not be EB1 since I was not a manager abroad. I have two questions here

1. If i get L1 A approved I will complete 7 continuous years in US by 2017. will i be able to move to H1 visa after that if my labour gets approved through perm processing
2. My wife's EAD is expiring on June 2014. Can she apply for an extension on March 2014 based on the current I94 and can we travel to Canada together in April.

[raghvi]

I came to US on L1B visa on March 2010. My visa expired on August 2012 but i am still working in US since my I94 is valid till March 2015. My company has applied for a fresh L1 A visa for me and have booked an interview for me in Canada in April 2014. My company will also be applying green card for me sometime next year, the category will not be EB1 since I was not a manager abroad. I have two questions here

1. If i get L1 A approved I will complete 7 continuous years in US by 2017. will i be able to move to H1 visa after that if my labour gets approved through perm processing
2. My wife's EAD is expiring on June 2014. Can she apply for an extension on March 2014 based on the current I94 and can we travel to Canada together in April.

1. You have to time the H1 application correctly. Assuming you stay entirely 7 Years physically in US then your 7 Years quota will get over in March 2017. Typically H1 quota opens in April with start date of Oct. So you cant apply H1 in April 2017 and stay from March 2017 till Oct 2017 based on pending Perm application. You will have to assess when exactly your 7 Years physical presence in US will complete.

I would suggest you apply an H1 in April 2016 itself with start date of Oct 2016 and keep extending it but that will be possible only if either your PERM has been pending for more than 1 Year or I140 has been already approved by the time H1 activates. Indirectly implying your GC processing should start latest by Oct 2015. You still have time so do discuss your options as to the timing of your H1 application/GC application/and 7 Year stay completion with an your employer and an experienced attorney.

With GC processing the earlier the better, but then employers generally dont agree to it as the moment 180 Days of I140 approval has passed employee tends to try to shift jobs.

2. Yes.

This is my opinion not legal advice.