# L1-B - end of employment



## bobodaclown (Oct 15, 2008)

Hi guys, really hope someone here can help me.

I am an Australian who moved to the US alomst 3 years ago on a L1-B visa (the actual visa expires in Feb '09).

Anyways, today was my last day of employment before I return to Australia on November 30th which is about 6 weeks away.

Now for the question,

I was aware that I had a 10 day period from end of employement to get out of the country but in my wisdom chose to not worry about that and give myself a 6 week holiday here in NYC. During my exit interview with my company my visa status was bought up and the HR reps appeared very concerned at the fact that I was doing what I was planning on doing.

They then proceeded to email me forms and such to change my status from a L1-B to a tourist visa but the cost associated with it is around $380! and they also noted that it may be already too late to file for the change of visa status.

ok, now for the real question.. is it really a big deal? how will US immigration find out/or will they? is there another way for us Aussies, as the americans do tend to like us i.e E3 Visa's. Or is my only option to bite the dust and pay the $400 and get it done as I do want the option of returning to the US to remain open.

again, hopefully someone here can help me out...

thanks heaps in advance


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

You were aware of your visa status and decided to disregard it. Now you have two options - do something about it in a hurry or live with the consequences. There are no back alleys in the world of USCIS; not even for Aussies.


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## bobodaclown (Oct 15, 2008)

twostep said:


> You were aware of your visa status and decided to disregard it. Now you have two options - do something about it in a hurry or live with the consequences. There are no back alleys in the world of USCIS; not even for Aussies.


thanks for the reply, however I have no idea what the consequences are, can anyone shed some light on this?

EDIT: the reason why I didn't worry about it is because I had a fellow aussie 2 years back who stayed on in the US for around 2 months after his employement ended and I am pretty sure he didn't do anything regarding his Visa, I have emailed him and will post his response on here.


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## bobodaclown (Oct 15, 2008)

well, ended up doing something and thought I'll share it with you guys, even though the only response I got here was just cynical and didn't help one bit.

So speaking to our visa specialist at my company she said:

as soon as you end employment the visa is invalid no matter what the date on the actual visa or the i-94 paper says

I need to fill out a I-539 form to change my L1-B to a B-2 Tourist visa

The cost associated with this is $300, fill out the form (pretty straight forward) and just try to prove that you are leaving within 3 months (plane ticket) and that you can afford your stay without the need to work (bank statements).

She said the timing of this doesn't reeaallly matter although it does and it 'should' be done within the 1st 2 weeks after end of employment.

As usual with this sort of stuff don't be tight on mailing, go the full express overnight, signature required type stuff, and KEEP everything you sent (explained later)

Now, the great thing is just the fact that you have filed this (make sure you get signature for mail to be stressfree about the application) you will automatically get 3 months allowed stay in the US, although I'm not too sure about what status you will actually be?

So in my situation I only needed 6 weeks and 3 months is ample time, my understanding is that even if it gets denied (if it gets done so quickly) you still get the 3 months thing? (anyone help on this)

anyway, when I leave, she said most likely it hasn't been completed and it would just fall into the rejected pile of forms automatically (KEEP EVERYTHING YOU SENT) and now I'm back home in sunny Oz.

Now if I wanted to return to the US I (would actually simply use the E3 visa, a great visa for us aussies) will need to bring everything I sent so that if anything happens at customs in the US I can show that I followed all the Visa procedures, paid my dues ect, as they may figure out that my end-employment date was 6 weeks before departure that without a valid Visa, which then with all your documentation and a nice attitude should be able to get by.

So that is method #1 which I took

method #2 would be to:

cross the border into Canada where they will get the I-94 paper and I will have officialy left the country within a reasonable amount of time after end of employment.

re-enter into the country using my passport as it is in a country that is part of the Visa Waiver Program and go back to my apartment and leave on Nov 30th.

Anyway, thought I'll share my experince with this and hopefully it was more useful and informative then what some of the 'senior members' of this forum helped me.

If anything major changes I will keep you posted.


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

bobodaclown said:


> well, ended up doing something and thought I'll share it with you guys, even though the only response I got here was just cynical and didn't help one bit.
> 
> So speaking to our visa specialist at my company she said:
> 
> ...



Both method #1 and #2have caveats in my book.

#1 is relying on the fact that you are in status until they reject your application. However, this is not strictly true since they will not forgive the overstay if they consider it frivolous. So it can come back to bite you. Make sure the reason is good--bloody good! Also, filing an I-539 does seem to wave red flags for your next visit.

#2 poses the problem that--generally--CBP do not re-issue I-94s or I-94Ws when you cross into Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean and back again. They can if you're sweet and nice to them and they're having a good day....but this is not the norm. So you could well cross into Canada and be stuck there. Caveat emptor!


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## bobodaclown (Oct 15, 2008)

Fatbrit said:


> Both method #1 and #2have caveats in my book.
> 
> #1 is relying on the fact that you are in status until they reject your application. However, this is not strictly true since they will not forgive the overstay if they consider it frivolous. So it can come back to bite you. Make sure the reason is good--bloody good! Also, filing an I-539 does seem to wave red flags for your next visit.


well I must be in some form of status to be able to stay in the US for 3 months, would be interesting to know which one though, but yeah, I guess the other part your talking about is very grey for me as I don't have much experience. Essentially made alot of friends in 3 years and just want a 6 week vacation in NYC, buy stuff and finally see some of the tourist spots, also my lease on the apartment is until Nov 30.. anyway, thats my story and I'm sticking to it  Unless a reason like that is not good enough?
hopefully I don't get rejected for the B-2 and I don't really see a reason why they would reject me.



Fatbrit said:


> #2 poses the problem that--generally--CBP do not re-issue I-94s or I-94Ws when you cross into Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean and back again. They can if you're sweet and nice to them and they're having a good day....but this is not the norm. So you could well cross into Canada and be stuck there. Caveat emptor!


why you gotta rain on my parade..lol 
so your saying those BP dont take my I-94 when I leave or don't replace it when I try to get back in? If either is the case then yeah, my #2 doesn't do much help and the costs associated with going to a further country outweighs the cost of the $300 filling fee


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