L1 to H1b COS (2006), Still working on L1

V

venkf

New Member
Hi,

I am in USA on L1b visa from 2005 Nov through Company A.
I got an H1B approval with COS from Oct 2006 from Company B. But i continued in L1B without leaving USA.

1) Is there anything illegal of my stay?
2) What is my current Status?
3) Can i joing the company B now and start working on H1B?
4) What should i do with my two I94's?
5) Can i go to Inida and face the Interview for H1B and come back to US?

Please help!

Regards,
Venkat
 
venkf said:
Hi,

I am in USA on L1b visa from 2005 Nov through Company A.
I got an H1B approval with COS from Oct 2006 from Company B. But i continued in L1B without leaving USA.

1) Is there anything illegal of my stay?
Click to expand...

Yes
Unauthorized employment when you continued working for Company A without changing your status back to L-1 after the COS to H-1B was approved. Status violation.
Did Company A also know you changed your status to work for Company B in October 2006?

venkf said:
2) What is my current Status?
Click to expand...

H-1B

venkf said:
3) Can i joing the company B now and start working on H1B?
Click to expand...

Without being judgemental, you should have done that long time ago.

venkf said:
4) What should i do with my two I94's?
Click to expand...

Nothing. You should have two I-94s because you changed your status and hasn't left the U.S. since then. One was issued by a CBP officer when you entered the U.S. with an L-1 visa with admission stamp on it, and the other was issued by USCIS as a tear-off portion of an approval notice when the COS was approved.

venkf said:
5) Can i go to Inida and face the Interview for H1B and come back to US?
Click to expand...

You may be able to do so but start working for Company B first. But even if you do, I'm not sure if a visa officer will issue an H-1B visa after knowing everthing that's happened while you were in the U.S.

Hopefully it will work out for you.
 
Thanks for the response - I am in trouble

Hi,

Thanks for the detailed response.

My family travelled to India on Nov 2006 and went for stamping on L2 and came back to USA on Feb 2007.

1) Will this change my status back to L1. Please suggest.
2) Can i totally ignore the H1B and go back to India and continue my present company?

Will this impact future consulate interviews thru L1 COMPANY?

Thanks in advance,
Venkat
 
I don't know how to correct all this without raising serious immigration questions along the way.

1. First and foremost, why did your family applied for L-2 visas when your status had been changed to H-1B a month ago? They should have applied for H-4 visas. All they had to bring to the Consulate was your COS approval notice.

2. To answer your question 1), no. Your family's status has no bearing on your status. It's vice versa-what your status is is the most important question. The Company A has to file a COS petition on your behalf and get approved for you to revert back to L-1.

3. For question 2), I don't understand what you mean by "go back to India," but again, regardless of where you are, the Company A has to file an L-1 petition (if you are outside the U.S.) or a COS application (if you hare in the U.S.) and get approved first. Your previous L-1 approval became invalid in October 2002 when your COS application to H-1B was approved.

4. To answer the last question, yes. The Consulate may or may not notice the situation (they obviously didn't when they issued L-2 visas for your family), but if they notice it raises a serious question.

Consult with a competent immigration attorney.
 
Thanks for the response

Hi,

The reason for my family attended the L2 visa interview is , i was not aware that the company B had applied H1B with COS and they kept all the approved documents with them.

Adding to the complexity, this year my L1 company applied a fresh H1B without COS. ie the reason i was asking can i ignore the company B totally and face the Interview for L1 company's new H1B.


Atleast i knew now that i am in deep trouble. Thanking for the informative response. I will definitely consult with an attorney.

Regards,
Venkat
 
If you go back to India to apply for an H-1B visa under the proposed employment by the Company A, make sure that your family will go with you so that they can have H-4 visas no matter what.

Based on what you told me, the whole situation should never have happened if your employers (including Company B) communicated well with you in the first place. Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top