L1 B Expiring in July - travel to India

[rgupta2]

Hello All - My L1 B visa is expiring in July end and I have applied for a extension. Can I travel to India in April first week and return back to US by end of April. Are there any legal problem and if cannot return to US, within X days of VISA expiry. Please suggest

[maverick144]

You can come back to US anytime as long as you have a valid VISA.No Cut-off date. And If you are lucky you may get I-94 with again 3 years of validity and may not required to file an extension.

[rgupta2]

Thanks Maverick , my I-94 is valid till December 2013 but my L1 B VISA expires July 2012. My employer wants to send a extension request to USICS, and I was told to get extension if any one of the two is expiring soon. Is that the right procedure ?

[shervin143]

Technically yu can stay and work in U.S as long as the I-94 associated to L1 remains valid. However, it is advisable to file the extension as that will help in case you need to go out fo the country and have to get the visa stamped or you have dependents who may have to go out of U.S and want to return back. In such case, the I-94 for the dependents will be issed based on your L1 petition and not based on your I-94.

And btw, it is not advisable to travel oputside U.S when an extension is pending with USCIS. Either EOS might get denioed or if approved, you will end up with multiple I-94 causing unnecessary confusions on when your staus will actually expire of the I-94 expiry dates are different.

Thanks Maverick , my I-94 is valid till December 2013 but my L1 B VISA expires July 2012. My employer wants to send a extension request to USICS, and I was told to get extension if any one of the two is expiring soon. Is that the right procedure ?

[maverick144]

Thanks Maverick , my I-94 is valid till December 2013 but my L1 B VISA expires July 2012. My employer wants to send a extension request to USICS, and I was told to get extension if any one of the two is expiring soon. Is that the right procedure ?

>> In general,most of the employers file for an extension based on your I-94 but not on VISA, that too just before 1 month of the expiry. For your case I suggest don't file for any extension.Go to India,come back to US per your schedule by April end. If you are smart enough to convince the officer at POE to get you I-94 for 3 years,that will be well and good.if you get I-94 till July 2012,then ask your employer to file for extension immediately.