L1B to H1B transfer with complex scenario?

USA H1B Visa
1

Currently I am working on L1 Visa and wife is working as Dependent on L2 Visa in USA (Valid till Dec)

I have applied H1B in April 2015 for 2016 quota (1 year back) and got the RFE on April-6-2016 and responded back now. If everything goes well visa will get approved by end of Jun 2016.

My Wife also applied H1B in 2016 with premium processing with same company and got approval too.

Meanwhile we went to India for vacation in April 2016.

We have some questions below-

  1. Will my L1 get canceled as soon as H1B get approved?

  2. Will my application get approval with change of status invalid?

  3. Do I need to apply again for COS(Change of status)

  4. If application get approved with COS (Change of status), do I need to go back to India for stamping or I can start working immediately?

  5. Can my wife work till September end even after my H1B approval in Jun 2016? Or how many days she can work after my H1B visa approval?

  6. If not can she get some grace period to work on L2 as dependent?

Please guide me with best approach to resolved the issue.

I appropriate for your help.

2

  1. No

  2. COS will be abandoned as you left US while it was pending. Same goes for your wife if she left US while H-1 was pending.

  3. You can either apply for COS after you return to US and your H-1 has been approved; or you can enter US on stamped H-1 visa

  4. COS would not be approved as you left US while it was pending

  5. Like explained above, COS would be abandoned. Whenever your new COS gets approved, your wife will have to move to her own H-1 or become dependent on H-4. She will have to maintain that status.

  6. No grace period.

What you can do is file your L-1 to H-1 COS after you return from India and your H-1 has been approved. In COS application mention start date of Oct 1. This way you would remain on L-1 until Oct 1 even if COS gets approved earlier and your wife can continue to work on L-2. Come Oct 1, you will be on H-1 and your wife will be on her H-1 (see (1) for exception).

3

Thanks a lot for your answers.