L1 Visa Renewal

[SathyaseelanPannirselvam]

Hi,
I moved to the US with my family (wife & 4yr old) about 5 months back on L1 visa. We have the L1 Visa petition till 2008 but the stamp on our passport says till April 2006.

** In order to renew the visa do we have to go to India and renew it before April 2006 or is there any other way of renewing the visa from the US.

** We have a passport issued from Chennai but since I was working in Calcutta while we applied for the L1 visa we attended the interview at the Calcutta visa office. When we apply for interview date, do we apply in Calcutta or in Chennai.

** What are the latest changes we will face while applying for Visa interview date, document required, etc

thanx & regards,
Sathyaseelan

[immihelp]

Visa stamp is only for entering into US.

Visa status is what you need to maintain in US and you need to ask your employer to renew your L1 visa status. You don't go to India for that.

However, when you visit India (for vacation etc), and if your visa stamp is already expired, you have to get new visa stamp before you can enter US again. You can look at the details at http://www.immihelp.com/l1-visa/

[Subbu]

Check I-94 Validity

Please check the expiry date on your I-94 card. if this date is same as visa stamp, then you need to apply for extension before the expiry date. Most of the times, the I-94 expiry date and visa stamping expiry date will be same. In rare cases, this could be different...

Anyway, this is just my opinion and please check with your employer...

Thanks..