mandpete

I have been in the States for 2 years on L1B visa and my company want to sponsor me for GC, however the process is going to take longer than the 3 years left on my visa. They want to change L1B to H1B so I can stay in the States longer. The only problem is that my wife won't be able to work on H4. I assume her EAD is void once I change to H1B.


The question is can I change from L1B to H1B during the LC process or do I have to change to H1B before LC process begins?
My company want to start filing the necessary documents as soon as possible (next week!). Obviously the longer my wife is able to work the better but if it means her giving up work can she study on H4 visa?

I have searched this forum and cannot find any relevant information.

Thanks to anyone who can answer my question.

Amanda

mandpete <member13820@british_expats.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > I have been in the States for 2 years on L1B visa and my company want to
    > sponsor me for GC, however the process is going to take longer than the
    > 3 years left on my visa. They want to change L1B to H1B so I can stay
    > in the States longer. The only problem is that my wife won't be able to
    > work on H4. I assume her EAD is void once I change to H1B.
    >
    >
    > The
    > question is can I change from L1B to H1B during the LC process or do I
    > have to change to H1B before LC process begins?
    > My company want to start
    > filing the necessary documents as soon as possible (next week!).
    > Obviously the longer my wife is able to work the better but if it means
    > her giving up work can she study on H4 visa?
    >
    > I have searched this forum
    > and cannot find any relevant information.
    >
    > Thanks to anyone who can
    > answer my question.



Hey, fidn out how soon after changing to H-1 that your company will
sponsor you (I-140 petition) and you be able to apply for GC (I-485).
See whether there is waiting period requirement on H-1 before filing
for GC).

If it is quite immediately after gettign H-1 that you (and your wife)
apply for GC (I-485) together *at the same time*, wouldn't she also be
able to apply EAD *with* I-485? I mean if she doesn't have to wait
till I-485 is approved to get EAD, i.e and can get EAD while GC
(I-485) is processing, it would be worth it. But find out whether she
would need to wait for GC approval to apply for EAD.

She can go to school on H4 but there may be restrictions. Ask a school
what kind of courses can she take? Or someone here might be able to
answer what I missed.

agrodner

agrodner

Hi,

Any news about your H1B/L1B issue? I will soon change my status from F1 student to H1B worker, and I was wondering if now my mother could work legally. I thought that maybe she could also apply for EAD card. Your issue is similar so I was wondering you have any answers yet.

Thanks,

Andrew

Lottie

Is your wife working at the moment?

If so, could a possible solution be to request for her employer to change her status from L-2 to H1-B at the same time that you change your status?

I'm certainly no expert, just received my L-2 a few weeks ago (hubby has a L1-B like you), but I can see us ending up in your position wrt to GC and VISA expiry dates in the future.

Would be very interested to see what you decide to do in the end. Good luck.

mandpete

I (wife) have only just received my EAD after deciding we liked living here and buying our own house. I do not have a degree so don't think I can get H1B. However after LC process and once I485 is applied for I think I can get EAD again. Hopefully PERM will be up and running shortly and the LC process will only take months rather than years.

We have decided to go ahead with H1B so may be in 5 years time we will get our Green Cards.

Lottie

Good luck!! Would you mind posting in the future to let me know how long LC took and if you did then manage to get EAD again. Thanks.