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If an individual submits a late filed STEM extension, they should not rely on the 180 day extension as the STEM Extension could be denied. In order to receive a detailed analysis of your case, it would be a good idea to schedule a consult with one of our attorneys.

If an individual submits a late filed STEM extension, they should not rely on the 180 day extension as the STEM Extension could be denied. In order to receive a detailed analysis of your case, it would be a good idea to schedule a consult with one of our attorneys.

Under the last action rule, for an individual with an approved I-797 that is valid until a certain date, who then enters the U.S. and receives an I-94 that is earlier than the date on the I-797, their status is then governed by the I-94 that was issued at the point of entry. This is because this is the most recent action taken by immigration. If an individual presented the proper paperwork and the CBP officer issued an I-94 in error, and individual can try contacting CBP or visiting a CBP deferred inspection site. However, if the wrong documents were presented, an individual should leave the U.S. and re-enter in order to be issued a new and correct I-94 card. To receive information specific to your case, please contact our office to schedule a consult with one of our attorneys.

An individual with a case outside of normal processing times listed on the UCIS website can submit a Service Request to USCIS to adjudicate the petition. The website to submit the service request can be found here: https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/Intro.do. The individual should select "case outside of normal processing time." Additionally, the individual has the option to apply for premium processing. If you would like to obtain information specific to your case, please schedule a consult with our office.

For an individual to be considered "counted against the cap," meaning the individual does not need to re-enter the cap lottery, the individual must receive the approval notice, and begin working for that employer. In the case of a consular approval notice, meaning an approval notice with no I-94 attached, the individual would need to receive the approval notice, apply for a visa to enter the US, and begin working for that employer.

An individual in H1B status can extend beyond the allotted 6 years with an approved I-140. If the priority date is current, the individual can extend in one year increments, so long as the I-485 is filed within 1 year. If the individual's priority date is not current, that individual can extend in 3 year increments. An H-1B visa stamp allows an individual to leave the US and return in H1B status. It has no impact on whether or not an individual can extend beyond the 6 year allotted time in H1B. It may be a good idea for you to schedule a paid consult with one of our attorneys to assess your specific situation.

Paying for premium processing should not increase or decrease your chance of approval. It simply speeds up processing time. Individuals who file via premium processing will receive a response in 15 days. At this time, premium processing is not available for H-4 dependents. However, if they are filed concurrently with an H1B petition, USCIS has said that they will adjudicate the H-4 and H1B cases at the same time. Only the payment for the H1B premium processing is required

If an individual receives an approval notice with an I-94 attached to the bottom, that individual needs to begin working for the employer on the approval notice in order to be considered counted against the CAP. If the approval notice does not have an I-94 attached to the bottom, the individual would need to apply for an H1B visa and re-enter the U.S. in H1B status. Then, the individual needs to begin working for the employer in order to be considered counted against the CAP. If the individual does not begin working for the employer, they will need to enter the lottery again because the individual has not been counted against the CAP.

The F-1 visa stamp allows an individual to enter the US, it has no bearing on whether or not an individual can leave the US to go to other countries. In order to ensure that you have all documents needed to re-enter the United States, an individual on F-1 status should contact their DSO.

Generally, with an approved PERM, and individual in H1B status can extend beyond the 6 years of allotted time in H1B in 1 year increments. If an individual has an I-140 approved, they can extend in 3 year increments beyond the 6 years of allotted time in H1B. Usually, an individual can apply for an H-4 COS concurrently with an H1B extension. However, the H1B holder must have an approved I-140 in order for the H-4 spouse to be eligible for an H-4 EAD. Given that you have a fairly complicated situation, you might want to schedule a consult with one of our attorneys to get more specific information.

Current processing time for a Consular Processed H1B petition is about 2 - 2.5 months. Premium processing is available for a fee of $2,500. If filed via premium processing, USCIS has 15 days to respond to a petition. After the consular approval is received, an individual will need to apply for an H1B visa stamp (if the individual does not have one already), in order to enter the US in H1B status. The criteria for eligibility for a dropbox appointment are met if the individual: Is applying for a visa in the applicant’s own country of nationality or residence Has ever previously been issued any type of visa Has never been refused a visa unless such refusal was overcome or waived Has no apparent ineligibility or potential ineligibility If you would like more specific information relating to your specific case, please call an schedule a consult with one of our attorneys.

It is up to the officer's discretion whether or not a B2 extension can be granted. Previous extensions can impact the approvability. In order to get more specific information on your personal situation, it would be best to schedule a consult with one of our attorneys.

Applying for a B1/B2 visa stamp should not impact the validity of an H1B visa stamp.

If an individual has a valid and not withdrawn approval notice from a previous employer, and if the individual will be performing the same job that the individual performed previously in the H1B role, that individual should be able to return to the previous employer without filing an amendment. However, each individual’s case is nuanced and it may be a good idea to schedule a consult with one of our attorneys to discuss the nuances of your case.

Once an individual is selected in the CAP lottery, receives an approved CAP petition, and begins working in the job listed on the petition, they are considered to be counted against the CAP lottery. An individual who is counted against the CAP does not need to enter the lottery again even if they are changing employers or have been out of the country unemployed, so long as they have a portion of their 6 years of allotted H1B time left, or the ability to extend past that allotted time. An individual with an approved I-140 can extend beyond the 6 years allotted in H1B status. If the I-140 is approved for 180 days, an individual can still use that I-140 to extend their H1B status even if it is withdrawn by the employer. However, once an individual’s priority date listed on their I-140 becomes current, that individual has 365 days to file an I-485 application to adjust status. If the individual does not file within one year, they lose the ability to extend their H1B status unless they can prove it was through no fault of the individual that they did not file. Furthermore, if an individual is outside of the United States for longer than one year, they can again apply through the CAP lottery in order to receive a new 6 years allotted in H1B. As seen in the response above, this can be a complicated situation and I would recommend scheduling a consult with an attorney at the Murthy Law Firm.