Julie

I ceased work in early October to take up my new position of full-time mom. My husband is here in the US on an H-1B until 2002 and I understand I should have requested a 'Change of Status' from the INS converting my L1 to H4 prior to leaving work.

So, here we are 3 months later....because of my delay in submitting the necessary paperwork am I now going to be forced to leave the US in order to obtain H4? (My lawyer seems to think so and is trying to persuade me to go out.) For obvious reasons I'd rather stay and collect in-country if I can but is it possible that the INS will deny my application and if this is the case will this look bad if we decide to pursue green card status which is our intent?

Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter.