L1B to H1B change of status

[Ankit9]

Hi

I am currently on L1B visa for company A. Company B is filing for my new H1(under lottery) this year under change of status. If my H1 gets selected, my intent is to avoid the change to H1B on Oct 1st and continue on L1B till its valid and then move to H1later. Below are my questions:

1) My understanding is - to avoid this change of status I should exit the country before October 1st and then reenter after Oct 1st on L1B visa. Is that correct?

2) My wife is on L2 does the same apply to her as well,i.e, to avoid L2 to H4 conversion she too should exit the country before october 1st and reenter after Oct 1st on L2 visa?

3) Is there any better way to avoid change of status?

4) Will this avoidance of change of status have any negative impact on my future prospects to work in US like applying for H1, Green Card etc?

Thanks for your help.

[raghvi]

Hi

I am currently on L1B visa for company A. Company B is filing for my new H1(under lottery) this year under change of status. If my H1 gets selected, my intent is to avoid the change to H1B on Oct 1st and continue on L1B till its valid and then move to H1later. Below are my questions:

1) My understanding is - to avoid this change of status I should exit the country before October 1st and then reenter after Oct 1st on L1B visa. Is that correct?

2) My wife is on L2 does the same apply to her as well,i.e, to avoid L2 to H4 conversion she too should exit the country before october 1st and reenter after Oct 1st on L2 visa?

3) Is there any better way to avoid change of status?

4) Will this avoidance of change of status have any negative impact on my future prospects to work in US like applying for H1, Green Card etc?

Thanks for your help.

You would automatically move to H1 if H1 was applied and approved as COS and not as consular process.

1. Not always, if your petition approval happens before Oct 01 then yes, otherwise you have to travel before COS approval comes in.
2. Was L2 to H4 also applied along with L1 to H1? If yes, then yes, she also needs to leave, if L2 to H4 has not yet been applied and if you planning to leave, then she need not leave as logn as you are goign to stay out of US only for a short duration
3. Once H1 is approved and COS has not yet kicked in ,ask H1 employer to file amendment to convert from COS to Consular. But considering the fact that premium processing has been suspended, one is giving rise to lot of delays in that getting approved.
4. No.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[Ankit9]

You would automatically move to H1 if H1 was applied and approved as COS and not as consular process.

1. Not always, if your petition approval happens before Oct 01 then yes, otherwise you have to travel before COS approval comes in.
2. Was L2 to H4 also applied along with L1 to H1? If yes, then yes, she also needs to leave, if L2 to H4 has not yet been applied and if you planning to leave, then she need not leave as logn as you are goign to stay out of US only for a short duration
3. Once H1 is approved and COS has not yet kicked in ,ask H1 employer to file amendment to convert from COS to Consular. But considering the fact that premium processing has been suspended, one is giving rise to lot of delays in that getting approved.
4. No.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thank you very much for the response Raghvi. How would I know if my COS has kicked in or not?

[raghvi]

Thank you very much for the response Raghvi. How would I know if my COS has kicked in or not?

You need to ask your H1 employer as to what date is proposed for the COS in the H1 application.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[visa_2014]

Your case is simple and clear. You are not going to have any problem if you have applied H1B application marked as "Consular Notify". Check with the company who filed for your H1B for this information.

If its the other way round and your application is filed for "Change of Status", then in order to make sure you stay on L1 B and you H1B does not get triggered - travel outside US and then your application will be chnaged from "Change of Status" to "Consular Notify".