H4 visa extension question

[deepak_pathania]

My wife is on L1B visa in USA. Her company filed L1B extn for her on 8th Aug,2011.
Her L1B visa is expired on 2nd Sept,2011 so we are waiting for approval/rejection
on her L1B extn petition.

Meanwhile we have new baby on Aug 26,2011 so my wife took 4 month maternity leave which
will expire on 26th Dec,2011.She want to take more leaves also. She can not take more
than that leave and we do not know when her L1B extension approval or rejection
will come . We are thinking of sending her back to India and get H4 approval as I am on VIsa.

Q1. Lets say she comes back to USA on H4 and meanwhile her L1 extension get approved. what will
happen to her H4 Visa.

Q2 Also what will happen to her H4 visa if her L1 extension gets rejected.

Q3 I may need to file her H1 extension when her L1 extension is already filed. is that legal ?

[kabkaba]

This gets complicated.
First of all, if the leave is paid, she need not worry about L1 status. If the employer approves it and keeps her on the payroll, she need not worry about L1 status and there is no need to do anything.
If longer than 4 months is approved (still in the job), but possibly without pay, she will have to get documentation from doctor's etc. in order to prove the genuine need for leave without pay. There is still no need to do anything about status.
Problem with status arises if the employer cannot approve longer leave and wants her to quit. In L1 status she cannot be unemployed. Only in that case she needs to change status or leave the US.
I will advise waiting for L1 extension decision first. If extension decision has not come when she wants to quit the job, then she will have to apply for change of status to H4 using form I-539. There is no need to travel unncessarily in such situation. Air travel is risky for the mother and the baby.