Kats.

My husband and I have L1A/L2 Visas which expire in April 2014. We were hoping to have green cards organised by the time they expired, but as our applications are not in yet (which is a whole other long story!) that is unlikely to happen.

We would like to renew our visas earlier than April as we have other commitments early next year and it would be better for us to travel to London at the end of this year. So our plan is to aim to go to London (where we initially got the L1A/L2 visas) in November for about 10 days to get the visas renewed.

Am I missing anything with this plan? As I understand it, we can renew our visas up to 6 months before they expire. Is 10 days in London enough time to get it processed?

Also, we are working with the company lawyers to get our green card applications in and hope to have them submitted in the next few months - will this impact at all on the visa renewals?

My husband is going to talk to the visa people at his company (we realise the renewal applications have to come from them!), but they're not easy to get information out of, so just wanted to check with people who have done this before as we would like to start planning our trip to London in November!

EricK

Dependent on your category it is a possibility that you will get your green cards before your visa's expire.

I was L1A and my spouse was on L2. Our filing was under EB1 MM. From date of filing to having green cards in hand was 3 months.

I have two colleagues who were in exactly the same category as me that also recently filed - they too got their green cards within 3 months.

Kats.

Thanks for sharing your experience. The category should be EB1 C but the lawyers are seeking outside counsel and have been really slow about it - the applications aren't in yet.

It would be great if we did get the green cards before our visas expire, but at this stage think it's better to plan to renew our visas, especially as we really don't want to have to travel to London next year.

N1cky

Do you need to travel outside the country regularly? You only need to get a new visa in your passport if you leave the country. So if you have no plans to leave the US, you won't need the new visas.

Kats.

I was wondering about this - do we have to renew our visas if our I94s are valid? I am studying and not working, but won't my husband have to renew his L1A in order to continue working?

He will probably have to travel outside the country for work, but I am not planning to travel next year. Things would get confusing though if he renews his L1A, and I don't renew my L2, but then need to later if the green card applications drag on (my I94 expires at the end of 2014)...it seems easier just to do them together when it's convenient for us. I would be worried as well if something came up that meant I had to leave the country and didn't have a visa to get back in!

N1cky

You renew your L1/2 and get new paperwork with new I94's (although the paper ones are now not issued).

You only need the actual visa in your passport to enter the USA. If you aren't leaving you don't need to do this step. You are legally in the US as you have renewed your paperwork.


If something 'comes up' and you have to leave, I believe the embassy does issue emergency appointments, so you could probably go along those lines if you had to.

Edit: If your husband has to leave the US for work, he would need to go the Embassy and get a new visa issued in his passport, this doesn't need to be in London though.

Kats.

Ah okay, so you renew the L1/L2 visas and just get the stamp in your passport in London?

With our green card applications not in yet (and I'm not confident about them being in soon given how long it has already taken), I would prefer to get the renewal in my passport and be able to travel outside the U.S., and not be waiting on the green card for that.

N1cky

Hope you get your GC application sorted out soon. Ours were finally filed mid June after months of messing around.

Remember once you submit your GC applications you can't travel until you receive your advanced parole authorization. So if you book for London in December, don't file your GC applications in November

Kats.

Nice one! Good luck with your application, and keep me updated on how long it takes.

I didn't know about the advanced parole authorizations...how long does that usually take to get after filing the GC application?

N1cky

I'm not entirely sure, we're still waiting on ours and it's been 1 month today since we filed.

Kats.

Thanks for the info. So complicated!

Kats.

Another question: so you don't have to go back to the same place to renew visas/get passport stamp as where you initially got them from (ie. London), you can do it anywhere outside the U.S.?

We will probably go back to London anyway and combine it with a work trip, but good to know our options!

Did you renew your visa in London, Nicky? How far in advance did you book the embassy appointment, and how long a stay do you recommend; is 10 days enough?

Noorah101

Between 60 - 90 days.

Rene

Noorah101

Correct.

Rene

N1cky

There are many people on here who have renewed in Canada, or the Caribbean seems quite popular too (can't imagine why)

Here is a link to the wait times for appointments and processing times. They open up appointments for the following month on certain days of the month, not sure of the exact process. Mr. Weeze posted yesterday (I think) about not yet being able to make an appointment for August as the dates don't open up until the end of July

Edit: I remember now he said something about the system switching so you can make online appointments, which should be great (if it works)

We did renew in London, I think our appointment was on the Monday, and our passports arrived back on the Friday.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wa...ndon&x=82&y=13