EAD or H1B status ?

[basav]

Hi,

I came to US on L2 in 2007, Hence obtained EAD mean time had applied for H1B for the 2007 quota.

Now i have both EAD ,and H1 Approved currently not working for either of visas due to personal reasons.

My Queries are ,

1.How do i know what visa i am on ? is it L2 or H1 ? i tried calling USCIS but they seem not that helpful.
2.I would prefer to take up job on EAD, how long can i stay on EAD (This is incase i am still on L2 status as per immigration)
3.If i turn out to be on H1 status as per immigration,how long can i stay without payroll on H1 ?

Any help in this is highly appreciated, Thanks for your patience.

Thanks,
Basa V

 

[EricS]

This is just my opinion, be sure to talk to a good attorney before making any decision.
First of all, EAD is not a status, just a benifit of some other status. Like people who apply for 485, can get EAD to work. Their status stays pending AOS, not EAD. I think you obtained EAD based on L2, so your status was L2, until your H1 got approved. Since that time, your status is H1. If you are not working on H1, then you are not fulfilling the terms of your H1. So you should be considered out of status now, but there are people who were on H4, applied for H1 and did not use it. Then after 6 months they started the job on H1 and had no problem going forward. So your current status is H1 and you should start working on it or again apply for change of status to other visa that you want to be on.