L1 critical questions

[mekd]

I am in US working for company A on L1-B and my L1- B visa expires in July 2012 (I 94 also expires in July 2012). I have below questions…

1. If I apply for H1 B visa via company B on premium processing and if I get approval before July 2012. Can I stay in country based on my H1 B approval without working ?
2. If I apply for L1 B extension (Via Company A) and H1 B (Via Company B) at the same time normal processing then there is any problem to any of the visa processing and my status?
3. If I apply for H1 B visa via company B normal processing when I am in valid status .Can I stay in country based on my H1 B visa receipts without working?

[shervin143]

1. If I apply for H1 B visa via company B on premium processing and if I get approval before July 2012. Can I stay in country based on my H1 B approval without working ?
>>> Approved H1B petition alone is not enough for you to stay in the country. You need to have a valid I-94. In your case, if you file H1B with L1 expiring in July, the H1B will get approved for consular process (without a new I-94). Even if H1B gets approved for COS, the I-94 will be effective only from Oct 1st. Your stay in the country after your current I-94 expiry date until the new one becomes effective will be considered as illegal stay.

2. If I apply for L1 B extension (Via Company A) and H1 B (Via Company B) at the same time normal processing then there is any problem to any of the visa processing and my status?
>>> same as above. H1B will get approved for consular process. If you want H1B to get approved as a COS so that you can start working for the H1B employer without leaving the country and return back in H1B visa, then you have file the L1 extension first. Later, based on the pending L1 extension, H1B can be filed. This is called bridging petition. In this case, if L1 gets rejected, then H1B will not get approved for COS. H1B approval with COS will depend on the L1 approval.

3. If I apply for H1 B visa via company B normal processing when I am in valid status .Can I stay in country based on my H1 B visa receipts without working?
>>> No. Your stay will be counted as illegal stay and it will cause issues later. On what basis will you stay in the country? How do you know for sure that the H1B will get approved? Even if it gets approved, how do you know it wil get approved with a new I-94 or not?