L2 to H1 COS

[mithila25 0]

Hi,

Following is my current status -

In US on L2 (no EAD)

Have an approved H1 petition till Sep 30, 2015

Was in US from April 2013 to October 2014 in US on H1B

In dicussion with few employers/companies for permanent/contractual work

I want to work on H1 only

Queries -

1. I have been told that I am H1 Cap exempt and even If my petition expires, a COS can be applied without formally going through the whole fresh H1 process. Please suggest if this is true or false. If true then is there a catch of any sort that I should be careful of after Sep 30 ?

2. If a regular H1 transfer is initiated by an employer, and I happen to travel outside the country -

a. Travel before approval is received - can I return on L2 ? If so, does that pose any threat to my H1 transfer ?

b. Travel after approval is received - do I need to get Visa stamped and only then can I return ? H1 transfer and petition ammendment will be for COS

c. Should I go with Premium ?

d. I understand it is illegal for an employer to ask H1 transfer/ammendment fees from employee, please confirm.

3. Do I need to go outside US for Visa stamping after H1 petition is transferred ? Or selecting COS in H1 amendment should suffice.

4. I will be mostly working remotely from Home, so LCA will be modified to include my home address, can LCA contain 2 addresses - one for home and another for office ?(in case travel is needed).

5. Assuming it is legal to work from home on H1, please confirm.

Thanks !

[Boiler 45,499]

COS does not get you a visa, you have to apply outside the US for a Visa.

If you can work from home why are you needed in the US?

[Emily975 11]

Maybe stupid question - why do you want H1 so badly? You can work for any employer with EAD (for L2). And you can start working as soon as you get it (=30 - 90 days after application). You also won't have any issues with leaving US, caps, transfers etc.

H1 working from home - usually not possible. It is expected that if company needs you and wants to bring you to the US, they actually need you here. Otherwise you would not need a visa, would be able to stay in your home country and work from there.