L1b visa stamped but travel delayed by a few months

[amrinder1986in]

I have got a L1b visa issued in Nov 2015 and valid till September 2018. My concern is that my travel plans have been delayed and it will take another 3 to 4 months before i travel. Can this be a cause of concern that I would not travel for 3 to 4 months or more after I got the visa stamped. Can this come up as a question I might have to answer, let's say at the port of entry.

Just to give some background, i had a prior B1/B2 visa on which i traveled to US and which was later revoked under Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) as i was suspected to be working on the business trip, which was not the case. Subsequent B1 visa requests were denied twice and then i applied for L1b with all the supporting documents to prove that my previous business visit was legitimate. L1b went into administrative processing 221g for 2 months and visa was finally issued.

All my L1b documents mentioned that it is very critical for our product and company business and revenue that I travel asap, which in fact was the truth as well. But due to my admin processing taking 2 weeks, the product plans changed a bit and my trip is now delayed by 3 to 4 months.

1) Can this be a cause of concern that I would not travel for 3 to 4 months or more after I got the visa stamped. Can this come up as a question I might have to answer, let's say at the port of entry.

2) I know that L1b visa holder can stay for a maximum of 5 years, initially 3 years and then an extension of 2 years. But if i only travel after 4 months of visa stamping, will these 4 months i spent in India before i traveled on my L1b visa be counted in the 5 years maximum stay period?

[raghvi]

I have got a L1b visa issued in Nov 2015 and valid till September 2018. My concern is that my travel plans have been delayed and it will take another 3 to 4 months before i travel. Can this be a cause of concern that I would not travel for 3 to 4 months or more after I got the visa stamped. Can this come up as a question I might have to answer, let's say at the port of entry.

Just to give some background, i had a prior B1/B2 visa on which i traveled to US and which was later revoked under Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) as i was suspected to be working on the business trip, which was not the case. Subsequent B1 visa requests were denied twice and then i applied for L1b with all the supporting documents to prove that my previous business visit was legitimate. L1b went into administrative processing 221g for 2 months and visa was finally issued.

All my L1b documents mentioned that it is very critical for our product and company business and revenue that I travel asap, which in fact was the truth as well. But due to my admin processing taking 2 weeks, the product plans changed a bit and my trip is now delayed by 3 to 4 months.

1) Can this be a cause of concern that I would not travel for 3 to 4 months or more after I got the visa stamped. Can this come up as a question I might have to answer, let's say at the port of entry.

2) I know that L1b visa holder can stay for a maximum of 5 years, initially 3 years and then an extension of 2 years. But if i only travel after 4 months of visa stamping, will these 4 months i spent in India before i traveled on my L1b visa be counted in the 5 years maximum stay period?

1. No. If it does, you can say that there was a delay.
2. Only time spent in US in L1 status is counted towards that limit, with that said , USCIS by default does not allow additional 4 Month, the same would have to be recaptured as and when you reach the visa expiration.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[amrinder1986in]

Thanks Raghvi for your response. Appreciate your time in going through my queries and answering them for me. I understand i can say that due to project getting delayed i had to wait for 4 months. But just curious to know, would you expect that such a question can be asked at port of entry or my next visa application or any other time, "Why you did not travel for 4 months after visa stamping when you had said at the interview it is very critical for me to travel and you had planned for immediate travel."