H1B expired, Question on new petition or renewal

[vinodkrish_r]

Dear All,

I worked for X company and they filed me H1 petition in August 2009, I got the visa stamped but never travelled. I changed the company to Y. The visa has expired as of this month August 2012 since the petition was for 3 years. Company Y wants me to travel by filing my H1B.

What are my options?

If a new petition is filed by company Y, will it come under the cap exempt, since i already hold the petition within the 6 years range?

Since I have never travelled, will I be allowed to stay in US for 6 years if I come on a h1b, even though 3 years of petition has expired?

Thanks

Vinod

[pontevecchio]

Yes.

There is no 6 year range as you put it. If Y gets your H1 petition approved then get your visa and come over. Be warned that consulting companies are being watched. Hence let them file. Please do not give them any money.

[vinodkrish_r]

Thanks for the reply! I believe there is 6 years range max for H1, you can stay max of 6 years with h1, you can extend later on if you are processing green card. The company Y is a big MNC so theres no worry about that.

So the question again!

If a new petition is filed by company Y, will it come under the cap exempt, since i already hold the petition within the 6 years range?

Since I have never travelled, will I be allowed to stay in US for 6 years if I come on a h1b, even though 3 years of petition/visa has expired?

[pontevecchio]

The 6 years is for years in H1 status which is by definition working for a H1 sponsor on a H1 petition and in the USA. It is possible I know a little more than you. Let Y file. What do you have to lose?

[JoeF]

An H1 petition is usually for 3 years, and can be extended for another 3 years. The extension would of course not fall under any cap.

[vinodkrish_r]

I have another forum which had exactly the same situation as mine, and it seems cap exempt is possible in my case. I am not sure if I can post the link here! But I can put on the phrases that had been found on the fourm. This would help people with cases similar to mine.

By no means, I would want to reveal the name of the user of that forum, so I would want to convey only the message and here it is

The question !

"

I have a doubt regarding the expired H1-B visa from previous employer. I got H1-B visa processed by my previous employer for which I got stamped in Nov 2008. I After 1 year I left the company and joined my current employer. The visa expired on September 2011

I never traveled to US using the visa.

My question is does the expired visa can be used my current employer to file new H1-B visa by specifying expired visa details? Will it give any benifit?

"

The Answer

"

Any employer can file a cap-exempt petition for you at any time. The benefit is that you will not have to wait for the cap to get open (Oct 1 start date).

"

Another one

"

That is correct. Your new employer can file a new H1B petition anytime using the CAP from the previous H1B approval notice (give the new employer a copy fo your old H1B approval notice) and request an immediate start date (No need to wait until Oct 1st). Once the petition gets approved, you can attend the stamping and if the visa gets approved, you can travel to U.S to work for the employer.

"

Thanks

[pontevecchio]

That is exactly what I told you.