The alien is entitled to apply for Advanced Parole as benefit associated with an adjustment of status application. Once approved, the Advanced Parole allows the alien to travel abroad and reenter into the U.S. After being paroled in, the alien can still keep his/her H-1 or L-1 status, as the case may be, in the sense that he/she can still apply for an extension of H-1 or L-1 status, provided the alien resumes employment with the same employer for whom he/she had previously been authorized to work as an H-1 or L-1 nonimmigrant. In this scenario, the approval of that extension would enable the alien to reenter into the U.S. on H-1 or L-1 status if he/she travels abroad in the future.
However, if after being paroled in, the alien changes employer he/she may no longer have valid H-1 or L-1 nonimmigrant status, even though he/she can still lawfully stay in the U.S. during the I-485 pending period. Thus, if the alien's I-485 application is denied, he/she may not be able to lawfully stay in the U.S. as nonimmigrant.
For various reasons, an alien in H-1 or L-1 status may want to apply for EAD, and he/she can do so along with the I-485 application either after his/her I-140 is approved or concurrently with I-140 application. However, for purposes of approval of the I-485, those who are in H-1 or L-1 status and whose adjustment of status applications are employer-sponsored are required to prove their intent to work for the petitioning employer, even though they can obtain the non-restrictive EAD.
If an H-1 or L-1 holder decides to file for and obtain the EAD but never uses it to work, he/she is still in valid H-1 or L-1 status and able to extend the H-1 or L-1 as needed (up to the maximum allowable time on that status). The mere fact of obtaining the EAD does not affect one's status; only if the alien uses the EAD to take on another job or use EAD to work for the current employer, would he/she no longer be considered to be maintaining H-1 or L-1 status. Therefore, if an alien on H-1 or L-1 status obtains an EAD and then go to work for another employer or use it to work for his/her current employer while waiting for the completion of her/his adjustment of status application, that action would effectively terminate the H-1 or L-1 status of the beneficiary and he/she would have to file for advance parole to travel abroad and reenter into the U.S. The alien in this situation would be admitted into the U.S. as parolee and no longer be considered as on H-1 or L-1 status.
On the other hand, an H-1 or L-1 holder who travels out of the United States and returns on advance parole is authorized to continue working for the petitioning H-1 or L-1 employer. He/she would not be required to obtain an EAD to work for this same employer, within the validity dates of the H-1 or L-1 petition approval.