L1B to H1B Case | In Confusion | Seeking Expert Advice

[bittu874]

Hi All

I have landed in a tough situation and hence want suggestions from people in the forum to resolve the same. All and any kind of help/suggestion shall be highly appreciated.
Here is my case:-
I am currently in US on L1B visa with employer 'A' from August 2005. In the meanwhile I applied for H1B (with COS) with another employer 'B' in May 2006 and received an approval for the same a couple of days back. I understand that if I want to shift to the new employer, I can do it as of October 1st 2006. However, that is not what I want to do given the recent developments with employer 'A'. There have been recent developments at employer 'A' which have given me a raise in my level and also a raise in my salary. In addition to that I have been assigned to a very good and challenging project. In lieu of all these developments that happened in the last 3-4 months, I would like to consider staying with my current employer (employer 'A') a little longer and defer joining the employer 'B' who has sponsored H1B with COS.

Questions:-
1>> Since my H1B with COS is begining October 1st 2006, what is the way out for me to continue on L1B with current employer as long as I want instead of joining employer 'B'?

2>> If I continue with my current employer (employer 'A') on L1B, will it make my approved H1B (with COS) invalid?

3>> What do I need to do to be able to use the approved H1B at a later point in time?

4>> If the H1B still remains valid although I did not use it immediately, how long is it going to be valid for? I mean how long can I prolong on L1B after I must shift to H1B to utilize it?

5>> Would the situation be a lot different if I had applied H1B with consular processing?

Kindly share your thoughts/advise on this as it would definately help me take some decisions.

Regards//Bittu

 

[GotPR?]

Questions:-
1>> Since my H1B with COS is begining October 1st 2006, what is the way out for me to continue on L1B with current employer as long as I want instead of joining employer 'B'?

2>> If I continue with my current employer (employer 'A') on L1B, will it make my approved H1B (with COS) invalid?

3>> What do I need to do to be able to use the approved H1B at a later point in time?

4>> If the H1B still remains valid although I did not use it immediately, how long is it going to be valid for? I mean how long can I prolong on L1B after I must shift to H1B to utilize it?

5>> Would the situation be a lot different if I had applied H1B with consular processing?

Kindly share your thoughts/advise on this as it would definately help me take some decisions.

Regards//Bittu

Are you sure you applied for H1B in May 2005, not May 2006 ? If it was May 2005, your start date was most likely in Oct 2005 and you are suppsoed to be on H1 status now.

Anyway...
1) Travel and reenter the US with valid L1B stamp after Oct 1.
2) H1B won't be invalid unless B cancelled your H1, but if you keep working for A, you are considered violating status requirement.
3) Travel. get H1B stamp and reenter.
4) it is said 60 days, but I have never seen the law for 60 days rule.
Basically as soon as your status changes, you have to satisfy the requirement of new status, so if you won't join B immediately, I recommend to travel with L1.
5) you already have approved H1. Only time you need to deal with consualte is when you obtain stamp.

 

[bittu874]

Thanks

Thanks for the response. A small correction (was a typo) ... My H1B was filed in May 2006 (instead of May 2005) and the approval came in August 2006 and its effective October 1st 2006.

What is this 60 days limit you advised. I am not very clear on that. Can you pls. explain.

Also, is there are issue (I mean will it create a problem) if I enter US on L1B with current employer before October 1st 2006.

 

[GotPR?]

It is said that one should join H1 sponsor within 60 days after H1 status gets valid.
But as I said, I have never seen any official document clarifying this rule, therefore, I do not recommend to follow it.

it won't be an issue if you enter the US with L1 before Oct 1, but your stauts will be changed to H1 on Oct 1 in that case, and you need to travel with L1 again after your H1 status gets valid(After Oct 1) to keep working for L1 company.