Can I stay and work in US after L1-B Visa expires but I-94 is valid?

USA L1, L2 Visa
1

Hi,

I am working in US with L1-B visa which is going to expire on 10th March 2013 and my I-94 expiry date is 25th Nov 2015. I have below questions:



[b]1.[/b] Can I work in US after 10th March 2013 (after Visa expired) with only valid I-94 date?



[b]2. [/b]Do I need to apply for L1-B extension after 10th March 2013 evenif I-94 is already valid ? 



[b]3.[/b] If I stay and work in US after 10th March and apply for H1-B on April; Would there be any issues at the time of H1-B approval/stamping as I stayed beyond Visa expiry date?



Thanks



AmritD
2

  1. Yes

  2. Not required

  3. No issues

Visa stamp in the passport is just for entry to US. It can easily expire while the person continues to stay in US on the basis of I-94. If you travel outside of US, then you will need a new visa stamp after Mar 10, 2013 in order to return to US.

3

Thanks Saurabh for your quick and helpful information.

In addition to the above, I heard that with the above situation I can stay but not eligible to work if my underlying L-1 petition is also expired with the visa expire date of 10th March 2013. Please suggest.

4

Usually the 797 accompanying the L-1 petition doesn’t have an expiration date. That is why most of L-1 folks can stay and work until I-94 expiration date. What is the expiration date on your 797?

5

Thanks once aging Suarabh.

I also didn’t find any Expiration date mentioned in the I-797. However, In I-129S (page 2/Part 4) there are two fields had been filled for “Date of Intended employment(mm/dd/yyyy)” From: 03/10/2010 and To: 03/10/2013 . Is this something related to expiry date?

6

I-129S is filed by the employer and they submit the initial 3 years. You can still continue to stay and work till your I-94 expiration date. You can talk to your attorney as well about this.

7

Thanks for all the above information.

8

You will not face any problem to stay in US. But the next time when you will apply for extesion/new visa then this irregularity will come up in your record and USCIS can reject your new case becos of this.

9

Ric,
If my stay beyond Visa expiry date(with valid I-94) is legal -Then why this will be treated as irregular?

10

Amrit
Can you please share ur experience.

11

Hi Amrit,
I am on same situation, can you share your experience ?
I am staying on i94 which is still valid for 2 years, whether it will create some problem in future if applied for different visa?

12

My L1-B VISA is expired, but my I-94 is valid till March, 2022. Can i change job in US on the basis of valid I-94?