British Expats

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-   US Immigration, Citizenship and Visas (https://britishexpats.com/forum/us-immigration-citizenship-visas-34/)
-   -   I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/us-immigration-citizenship-visas-34/i-94-expiring-but-l1a-still-valid-what-renewal-needed-904074/)

grungestar Oct 2nd 2017 5:30 pm

I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 
Hello fellow expats - have some questions hoping you can help with.
1) My L1A visa is still valid until 2020. My spouse is on L2A under me as principal and have same visa validity.
2) Our passports do not expire until 2024, so all good there.
3) Our I-94 however is expiring in 5 months (2018).

Questions:
1) Do we need to renew I-94?
2) What about my spouse's EAD? It currently has the expiry date of our I-94. We arrived in the US March 2015, so I am assuming her EAD expires 2 years after we first arrived and is due for renewal? If so, which expiry date should it be following? The L2 visa (2020) or I-94 (2018)?
3) I also filed for GC late last year, only I-40 is being lodged. I have other colleagues who filed later than me but were asked to file I-40 and I-485 together. Why the difference?

Any advice would be much appreciated. :fingerscrossed:

TheKingOfHearts Oct 2nd 2017 5:40 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 
What is the PED expiry date on your visa?

I'm presuming that is the same date as your i-94 expiry?

If so, your employer will need to re-petition your L1, this doesn't involve you needing an entirely new L1, but they will need to do some paperwork on their end to renew their petition of your visa.

Also to add, always follow the i94 date. The i94 is what grants you the right & terms to remain in the US, the visa simply grants you entry.

grungestar Oct 2nd 2017 5:45 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 
Hi there, the expiry date of my L1A is Jan 2020 (it was approved Jan 2015). I entered the US March 2015 and my I-94 expires March 2018. So the L1A is "longer than the I94". So to your point I should always follow the I-94 date? Yes the company will re-petition the L1 "soon".

What about the GC question? Any idea why mine's only I-40 lodged and others have concurrent I-40 and I-485 lodged together?

Noorah101 Oct 2nd 2017 7:21 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 

Originally Posted by grungestar (Post 1235194)

What about the GC question? Any idea why mine's only I-40 lodged and others have concurrent I-40 and I-485 lodged together?

When it comes to USCIS, there is no rhyme or reason for the processing times.

Rene

TheKingOfHearts Oct 2nd 2017 8:40 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 

Originally Posted by grungestar (Post 12351944)
Hi there, the expiry date of my L1A is Jan 2020 (it was approved Jan 2015). I entered the US March 2015 and my I-94 expires March 2018. So the L1A is "longer than the I94". So to your point I should always follow the I-94 date? Yes the company will re-petition the L1 "soon".

Yes, always follow the i94 date. Look on your physical visa, it will have a PED date too, that is what needs to be renewed by your company. As I understand it (and someone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong as I'm no expert) the embassy now almost always issue the visa to the maximum length applicable for your citizenship, however they set the PED to an initial 3 years (hence your i94 date) and that can be renewed once (2 years, L1-B) or twice (2 x 2 years, L1A)

I can't speak to the GC piece.

roberth1970 Oct 3rd 2017 3:18 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 
As posters above have said, but to reiterate your organization must apply to extend your petition. You need to get on to this right away as company processing time/lawyers/USCIS can eat into 5 months really quickly. If your organization has a blanket petition it might be faster, but you should certainly take action ASAP.

S Folinsky Oct 3rd 2017 5:53 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 
General comment on definitions may be in order:

L-1 validity is governed by the petition validity. This is the petition filed by the employer.

A visa is a document issued by a consulate outside of the United States. All it is a permission to come to the U.S. and apply for admission in the status. While in the United States, the "visa" is actually meaningless. The validity date of the visa may be shorter or longer than the petition validity.

The I-94 is the time and terms of admission. It governs time and status while in the United States. There is a general rule that a non-immigrant must have a passport valid for at least six month while in the United States. As a general rule this should not affect the length of admission. The presumption is that one will extend the passport when necessary. That said, I have seen instances where the Port of Entry mistakenly applied the six month rule.

Do note that L-1 status, including extensions, is dependent upon the petition filed by the employer. An extension of the I-94 is concomitant to an employer's filing.

Govern yourselves accordingly.

Karlosthecackle Oct 10th 2017 5:04 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 
I'm pretty much in the same boat right now. My L1A is good until 2020 but the PED is January 2018

Immigration lawyers have told me that i have to go back to the US Embassy in London and effectively get a new VISA. They provided me with the new blanket petition number and I've already raised a new DS-160/booked an appointment in November.

FWIW, my i94 says November 2018 (Not sure where they got that date from on my last return in August!)

TheKingOfHearts Oct 13th 2017 7:18 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 

Originally Posted by Karlosthecackle (Post 12358017)
I'm pretty much in the same boat right now. My L1A is good until 2020 but the PED is January 2018

Immigration lawyers have told me that i have to go back to the US Embassy in London and effectively get a new VISA. They provided me with the new blanket petition number and I've already raised a new DS-160/booked an appointment in November.

FWIW, my i94 says November 2018 (Not sure where they got that date from on my last return in August!)

Interestingly this is counter to what I have been advised/led to believe. My understanding was that the PED can be petitioned and renewed whilst you are in country, and the attached paperwork will serve as your renewed i94. Also told that a new visa is explicitly not required as the visa validity is correct regardless of the PED date, but i94 date will only ever correspond to the earliest date (PED or visa)

Karlosthecackle Oct 17th 2017 7:03 pm

Re: I-94 Expiring but L1A still valid - what renewal is needed?
 

Originally Posted by TheKingOfHearts (Post 12360458)
Interestingly this is counter to what I have been advised/led to believe. My understanding was that the PED can be petitioned and renewed whilst you are in country, and the attached paperwork will serve as your renewed i94. Also told that a new visa is explicitly not required as the visa validity is correct regardless of the PED date, but i94 date will only ever correspond to the earliest date (PED or visa)

when i quizzed our immigration lawyers on this, they said that they would need to have filed a petition for me specifically and that currently there is a 25% rejection rate when doing this in country. From what i can gather they always quote worst case scenarios/are risk adverse and believe the safest route is to go back to to the embassy. I'd rather not have to travel back to the UK, but then it's a free trip home and i get to see my parents so i'm not too annoyed.


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