Hi,
I need your advice.
Presently I am in USA using L1B visa. My L1B petition was expired on Mar’2019 ( I-94 too) and applied for petition extension and waiting for approval. Now I am in 240 days grace period…But I have L1B Visa stamping valid till Mar’20 in my passport. Also my employer applied H1B this year and petition got approved. In H1B petition I have I-94 date details which starts from October 1st to petition end date. My question is suppose If I won’t receive my L1B extension approval Can I continue my stay using H1B I-94 dates or do I need to travel back to India and get H1B visa stamping and come back to USA?
If your petition was applied as Change of Status, your status automatically switches to H1B on October 1st. Now, coming to your L1 status, you applied for it and you are in Period of Authorized Stay, and not in full lawful status. Technically, you should be fine as your status would change and did not really violate anything. If your L1B were to get rejected, then it creates slight confusion…You should be fine…Just double check with your H1B attorney and seek their advice as well to be safe.
Yes my petition was applied as Change of Status. Suppose If my L1B extension get rejected (remember I am in 240 days grace period going to expire in November 1st week) after October 1st week., so in this case still is my Change of status valid?. Shall continue my stay based on H1B I-94 dates?
Yes, you could, but you cannot work as you do not have proper H1B status. You will be in period of authorized stay. As your H1B was filed when your status was valid, you could technically wait for it as it was COS. Again, the timings can be tricky, I suggest you work with your H1B employer attorney and then take decision.
I changed my L1B extension petition from normal to premium processing and got RFE . So I am planning to go back to India for H1B visa stamping. because my 240days period going to end soon.Can we travel to India while extension in RFE status?
Well, technically, you should be fine to travel as it is just extension…but, check with your attorney, if they suggest you to stay back…In general, they recommend not to travel during processing…