Change of status from L2 to H4

USA H4 Visa
1

Hi,

Looking for an urgent suggestion on my situation.
My spouse is on L1 with his extension recently approved. My L2 visa is under extension and I am still awaiting decision from USCIS on that case. Meanwhile my spouse(primary applicant) had a COS from L1 to H1B. His H1B is currently approved and effective from OCT 01 which means his L1 will become void starting that day. The problem is, his employer did not agree to file my COS from L2 to H4 mentioning that my L2 approval is needed first in order to file the COS petition for me. This means starting OCT 01, my L2 will be void, nor will I have a pending H4 application, so I will not have a valid visa/justification to stay in US and will have to travel back to my home country. With the current consulate closures I am not even sure if I can get a stamping appointment sooner.

I was hoping to get an understanding if this rule of not applying for my H4 until L2 approval is received, could be my spouse’s employer’s internal rule or USCIS rule. This will help us push the case with my spouse’s employer further.

Thanks in advance !

2

You can hire your own immigration attorney and have them file COS from L2 to H4, using the approval notice of primary H1B, while your L2 is still valid till 30th September. Once you submit the COS application, you can request USCIS to withdraw your L2 extension. Even if you don’t send the withdrawal letter to L2 extension, your extension will be denied as the primary L1 changed the status to H1B.

Meanwhile your COS application from L2 to H4 is processed, you can stay in the US as it is considered authorized period of stay while your COS is processed.

You can have both extension and COS applications in parallel however as I mentioned, just withdraw the extension once you submit the COS application. You do need to apply for COS before your L2 I-94 expires on 1st Oct’2021 due to your spouse’s change of status to H1B.

3

@Kalpesh_Dalwadi Thank you so much for your response! I have requested my spouse’s attorney to check if they can file by withdrawing my L2. If they confirm that they cannot do it I will reach out to attorney externally.