L1 visa but want to change Jobs
I currently have a L1 visa and will be bringing my wife her on an L2 visa.
I have the oppurtunity to change jobs for a lot better package. How can I go about changing visas, I guess I need a H visa? Big Q, do I need ot leave the country to change visas or can I do it here in the US and when I quit my old job will my visa automatically become invalid and be forced to leave the country or is there a grace period. any help will be very helpful. Will go to a visa lawyer if needed but hoped to save the xpense and get an idea before having to go for the actual applications etc... Paul |
Re: L1 visa but want to change Jobs
paulmcphillimy wrote:
> I currently have a L1 visa and will be bringing my wife her on an L2 > visa. > I have the oppurtunity to change jobs for a lot better package. > How can I go about changing visas, I guess I need a H visa? > Big Q, do I need ot leave the country to change visas or can I do it > here in the US and when I quit my old job will my visa automatically > become invalid and be forced to leave the country or is there a > grace period. Don't confuse the ideas of 'visa' and 'status'. A visa is a thing stuck in your passport, and is only of any relevance at the time you ask to enter the USA. Your status is the immigration category under which you are currently in the USA. If the new job qualifies for an H-1B, the new employer can apply for H-1B authorisation for you and request to change your status to H-1B so you can start working for him. Unless you are in certain special categories, the earliest start date that will be authorized for a new H-1B at the moment is 1 October 2005. You must carry on working for your current employer until the H-1B start date, and must start with the new employer on that date. If you change to H-1B status and subsequently want to travel outside the USA and return, you must get an H-1B visa in your passport while you are out of the USA. If your wife enters the USA to join you while you are still in L-1 status, she must use an L-2 visa. If she joins you after you've changed to H-1B she must use an H-4 visa. If she joins you while you are still an L-1 and you subsequently change to H-1B, she must also file a change of status request from L-2 to H-4 to take effect at the same time as your change. H-4s can't work, by the way. If you quit your current job before the change-of-status approval date, you go out of status and are required to leave the USA immediately. Your L-1 visa does not become invalid, but it becomes useless in practice - you can only use it to enter the USA in L-1 status, and if you no longer work for a company that has L-1 authorization for you then you can't enter in that status. |
Re: L1 visa but want to change Jobs
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Hash: SHA1 paulmcphillimy wrote: | I currently have a L1 visa and will be bringing my wife her on an L2 | visa. | | I have the oppurtunity to change jobs for a lot better package. | | How can I go about changing visas, I guess I need a H visa? Probably, it depends on the new job, of course. | Big Q, do I need ot leave the country to change visas or can I do it | here in the US and when I quit my old job will my visa automatically | become invalid and be forced to leave the country or is there a | grace period. I note that jjf already pointed you to the difference between status and visa. My FAQ site at http://www.kkeane.com has more details about this. In short, what you are primarily interested in is status, not visa. It can probably be changed without leaving the USA. Your old status indeed ends the day you quit the job. As long as the change of status has been filed in time, that's not a problem. Do note that there could be a snag in your plan. Since you would be applying for an H-1B visa, the quota may become an issue. Currently, the quota has not yet been reached, after an extra 20,000 slots have been made available. But nobody knows how long this will last. Also, do be aware that your wife would be allowed to work only if you are an L-1. The wife of an H-1B is an H-4, and would not be able to work (unless she can get an H-1B of her own). | any help will be very helpful. Will go to a visa lawyer if needed but | hoped to save the xpense and get an idea before having to go for the | actual applications etc... Your employer, not you, will file all the paperwork, and probably also hire an attorney and guide you. It is an excellent idea to educate yourself first so you know what questions to ask. Ingo - -- Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet newsgroups. Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under construction) My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for Spam protection. See my Web site for information on how to contact me. Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my Web site http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCP4wmyUlVTFdHXskRApbaAKCKMcXHXzdAeWoVmo+64s K8Gi3tmQCfSj7Z GX9XuHiLtot+lUGNa1u6vuE= =/j+4 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
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