Alternatives to H1B if not selected in the lottery

[rahul412]

F1 after PERM approval is very risky. Better you plan for work visa rather than student visa.

[JoeF]

I would like to check on my case and my options.

 

Below is my situation:

 

- I am on L1B visa for which extension is filed before its expiry.  I got RFE for my extension, and reply of which is due by June 24th.   Even if I get the extension approved, my L1B will max out by Sept 10th 2014.

 

- I am trying for H1 in both 2013 and 2014, but did not get selected in lottery.

 

- My company has started PERM processing for me and soon is going to file for PERM Labor.

 

 

Now my questions are:

 

- Once I get my PERM Labor done and I-140 issued, can I get H1 without lottery next year ?

 

- As I will be maxing out my current L1B; do I need to wait for 1 year before applying for H1 or I can apply before that, given L1B got me only 5 years, while H1B can go upto 6 years ?

 

- Also if I leave US around 10th Sept 2014 after completing my 5 years, can I apply for next year's H1 on 1st April 2015 or I have to wait until 10th Sept 2015 before filing for any other visa ?

 

- I have read about F1/CPT and their implications, but still would like to know if trying to do COS from L1 to F1 and then work on CPT is a right option or not ?  and how it will impact my I-140 processing ?

 

I don't want to get in trouble just for the sake of getting new visa, however would like to now my options and when/if I can get new visa.

 

Thanks in advance.

Enrolling at some shady university just to do CPT is pretty much abuse of CPT.

It is a big red flag and would likely kill the career in the US.

[jairichi]

 

 

Now my questions are:

 

- Once I get my PERM Labor done and I-140 issued, can I get H1 without lottery next year ?

 

- As I will be maxing out my current L1B; do I need to wait for 1 year before applying for H1 or I can apply before that, given L1B got me only 5 years, while H1B can go upto 6 years ?

 

- Also if I leave US around 10th Sept 2014 after completing my 5 years, can I apply for next year's H1 on 1st April 2015 or I have to wait until 10th Sept 2015 before filing for any other visa ?

 

- I have read about F1/CPT and their implications, but still would like to know if trying to do COS from L1 to F1 and then work on CPT is a right option or not ?  and how it will impact my I-140 processing ?

 

I don't want to get in trouble just for the sake of getting new visa, however would like to now my options and when/if I can get new visa.

 

Thanks in advance.

1.You need to go under cap.

2. H1B under cap quota is over for this year. You can try again next year in April.

3. If an employer files a cap subject H1B petition next April you are eligible for only one year on H1B. A cap subject H1B petition filed on 10th Sep 2015 will give you 6 years of H1B. Since quota will not be available by then only in April 2016 a cap subject H1B petition could be filed to get 6 years.

4. As others have said CPT will kill your career in US. Stay away from it.

[tunnu09]

Hi,

Please help me, my company filed my H1B for 2014 and I did my BDS from India,MBA - project mgmt in US and Currently doing MBA again in health care to maintain my F1 status. I am Working as bdm/ accounts manager for a staffing firm and the H1B is filed on basis of my MBA and the title is Business Development Analyst. I applied for H1b through Premium Processing and got a RFE asking for:

A more detailed job tasks description

Explain why the work to be performed requires at least a bachelor's.

Evidence pertaining to petitioner 

Maintenance of Status

 

Does anyone has the same situation like mine or have filed their H1B with same title.

Please help me,what I am suppose to do?

[jairichi]

 

Hi,

Please help me, my company filed my H1B for 2014 and I did my BDS from India,MBA - project mgmt in US and Currently doing MBA again in health care to maintain my F1 status. I am Working as bdm/ accounts manager for a staffing firm and the H1B is filed on basis of my MBA and the title is Business Development Analyst. I applied for H1b through Premium Processing and got a RFE asking for:

A more detailed job tasks description

Explain why the work to be performed requires at least a bachelor's.

Evidence pertaining to petitioner 

Maintenance of Status

 

Does anyone has the same situation like mine or have filed their H1B with same title.

Please help me,what I am suppose to do?

 

You have nothing to do. Your employer's attorney will handle this.

[JoeF]

 

Hi,

Please help me, my company filed my H1B for 2014 and I did my BDS from India,MBA - project mgmt in US and Currently doing MBA again in health care to maintain my F1 status. I am Working as bdm/ accounts manager for a staffing firm and the H1B is filed on basis of my MBA and the title is Business Development Analyst. I applied for H1b through Premium Processing and got a RFE asking for:

A more detailed job tasks description

Explain why the work to be performed requires at least a bachelor's.

Evidence pertaining to petitioner 

Maintenance of Status

 

Does anyone has the same situation like mine or have filed their H1B with same title.

Please help me,what I am suppose to do?

 

Hmm, are you studying or working?

[Gnosticdude]

Everyone - Please don't be frustrated with the questions asked here since 51% of this year's H-1B applicants are basically panicking. Few are lucky to have STEM extn to try again next year, few have options to go back home - but most of them are  on make-or-break career status.

 

I have my I-140 approved and I'm on 6+ year of H1-B, waiting for the Priority Date to reach. But my newly wedded wife completed her Masters in Cyber-Security (F-1 status), got a job after 1 year struggle through OPT, convinced her employer to e-verify, got on OPT-STEM extn, convinced her employer to file for her H-1B and didn't get picked in the Lottery.

 

- Going back to Home Country is not an option since my I-140 is approved.

- Double Masters doesn't help since CPT not granted in 1st year (she struggled to get her 1st job) and no OPT.

 

What are the viable options of sustainment till next year's H-1B applications?

[jairichi]

 

Everyone - Please don't be frustrated with the questions asked here since 51% of this year's H-1B applicants are basically panicking. Few are lucky to have STEM extn to try again next year, few have options to go back home - but most of them are  on make-or-break career status.

 

I have my I-140 approved and I'm on 6+ year of H1-B, waiting for the Priority Date to reach. But my newly wedded wife completed her Masters in Cyber-Security (F-1 status), got a job after 1 year struggle through OPT, convinced her employer to e-verify, got on OPT-STEM extn, convinced her employer to file for her H-1B and didn't get picked in the Lottery.

 

- Going back to Home Country is not an option since my I-140 is approved.

- Double Masters doesn't help since CPT not granted in 1st year (she struggled to get her 1st job) and no OPT.

 

What are the viable options of sustainment till next year's H-1B applications?

 

She moves to H4 status and stays with you.

[JoeF]

 

Everyone - Please don't be frustrated with the questions asked here since 51% of this year's H-1B applicants are basically panicking. Few are lucky to have STEM extn to try again next year, few have options to go back home - but most of them are  on make-or-break career status.

 

I have my I-140 approved and I'm on 6+ year of H1-B, waiting for the Priority Date to reach. But my newly wedded wife completed her Masters in Cyber-Security (F-1 status), got a job after 1 year struggle through OPT, convinced her employer to e-verify, got on OPT-STEM extn, convinced her employer to file for her H-1B and didn't get picked in the Lottery.

 

- Going back to Home Country is not an option since my I-140 is approved.

- Double Masters doesn't help since CPT not granted in 1st year (she struggled to get her 1st job) and no OPT.

 

What are the viable options of sustainment till next year's H-1B applications?

 

Since you are on H1, an H4 for her would be an option.

[EvoLove]

I have been lurking in this forum for a while and figured I will ask my question here rather than starting a new thread. Here is my deal, I graduated from an University with a Master's degree and I have been working with a premium auto maker in Michigan as an engineer. I am on OPT extension which expires on Oct 7th 2014. I applied for my H1B with premium processing and I still did not get any notification yet. I want to start planning for my " plan B' to stay in the US legally.

 

1) IF  my application is not picked in the lottery ( I still have hopes by the way), is it legal to enroll in an accredited university and do part time study/work (20 hours per week) in a co-op program. My boss wants to start a joint project with the university and he wants me to be the guy in the program. I always wanted to get another degree and was wondering if it is legal for international students to work and study at the same time. 

 

2) My boss also wants me to apply for a green card ( company attorneys are going to take care of it, but thought will ask in the forum as well). I do not have a PhD or a post doc yet but I do work in the company's research group and was wondering if that could make my application qualify for the National Interest Waiver. I also have co-authored a patent. 

 

Looking forward to hear from the experts. 

Vish

[JoeF]

That kind of "work/study" stuff is not really possible for international students.

First, no real university would give out CPT for somebody just signing up.

Second, you have to attend classes in person, so it would only be possible with a local university.

 

For an NIW, a PhD is not required. Your work would have to be in the interest of the US. For example, Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux operating system, got his GC through NIW (he has a Masters from the University of Finland in Helsinki.)

You should discuss your situation with a good lawyer.

[t75]

Your boss is not going to be able to just "start" a program especially in an engineering discipline.  No university is going to so something fast enough for you to benefit. There are not generally coop programs for PhD students; your emphasis will be research under one of the faculty. Some universities have a DSC which is a more practical than research oriented but these are far between.

 

The company can certainly start the process to file for your GC , but that will not solve your immediate problem and allow you to work in the US. If they have a foreign branch, you could go there and perhaps come back on L-1.

 

You need to sit down with the company's attorney for a review of your - and their - options.

[Gnosticdude]

Since you are on H1, an H4 for her would be an option.

 

She moves to H4 status and stays with you.

 

Team - I know you guys mean well and you are helping best here, but H4 has always been the fall back option. My struggle here is to NOT stumble her career - that too, it just started, after all the struggle.

 

1) Is there anyway the CPT option can be worked around? (Please don't mind me bringing it up again - but had to ask)

 

2) If she takes up part-time PhD in her domain (she has MS in same) , is there anyhow she can work part-time in parallel to maintain her career?

 

Thank you so much once again for all the information!

[jairichi]

Team - I know you guys mean well and you are helping best here, but H4 has always been the fall back option. My struggle here is to NOT stumble her career - that too, it just started, after all the struggle.

 

1) Is there anyway the CPT option can be worked around? (Please don't mind me bringing it up again - but had to ask)

 

2) If she takes up part-time PhD in her domain (she has MS in same) , is there anyhow she can work part-time in parallel to maintain her career?

 

Thank you so much once again for all the information!

1. If CPT is illegal it will ruin her career in US. Talk to an attorney.

2. No, that is not possible as she will be in either F1 or H4 status. No work is allowed on these two status. 

[JoeF]

Team - I know you guys mean well and you are helping best here, but H4 has always been the fall back option. My struggle here is to NOT stumble her career - that too, it just started, after all the struggle.

 

1) Is there anyway the CPT option can be worked around? (Please don't mind me bringing it up again - but had to ask)

 

2) If she takes up part-time PhD in her domain (she has MS in same) , is there anyhow she can work part-time in parallel to maintain her career?

 

Thank you so much once again for all the information!

 

If she doesn't want to kill her career, then she needs to stay away from CPT.

No real university gives out CPT to somebody just signing up, and the enrollment windows for Fall are closed already, anyway.

Abuse of CPT will kill her career forever.

And "part time PhD" is not possible. You don't seem to have any idea how much work a PhD is. A person doing a PhD eats, drinks and sleeps the research, 24/7.

 

H4 is the only realistic option. It does not prevent her from staying up-to-date in her field, e.g., reading the relevant scientific journals.

[EvoLove]

The University I am talking about is a legit university and it is local to me. I plan on attending classes for the degree, which is also legit by the way. I just read the posts above which says that is illegal. 

[JoeF]

The University I am talking about is a legit university and it is local to me. I plan on attending classes for the degree, which is also legit by the way. I just read the posts above which says that is illegal. 

CTP is NOT and has NEVER been for work in some arbitrary company.

CPT is for work as integral part of the curriculum, e.g., if a class requires an internship. Legitimate CPT is very rare.

And again, no real university gives out CPT to somebody just signing up.

Care to tell us the name of the university?

[rahul412]

The University I am talking about is a legit university and it is local to me. I plan on attending classes for the degree, which is also legit by the way. I just read the posts above which says that is illegal. 

Yes bcos on F1 you cannot work. And CPT is not for FTE or for the work which is not part of your F1 program.

[t75]

There is absolutely no reason to "panic" if you do not receive an H1B visa. No one is guaranteed the opportunity to work in the US; if you have make that an integral part of your life's plan rather than accepting it as an opportunity to consider if it comes along, you have been deluding yourself.

 

There are so many options that to limit yourself by doing "anything" to remain in the US in the hope of getting selected in a future lottery is, IMO, wasting your time waiting for something that might not happen rather than going with the other opportunities that come along.

 

Keep your options open; be sure to be 100% in compliance with the rules and laws of any country in which you reside and work. If you have any doubts as to whether your actions are appropriate, consult legal experts in that country so that you do not jeopardize your future there.

 

If you have questions about your options to live and work in the US, pay for a consultation with a US immigration law specialist for a review of your specific situation. You may  not like what you hear, but follow those directions as it is in your best interests to do so.

[EvoLove]

I am not going to work full time. I am going to work part time, and study full time. My team has not yet talked to the University  about the joint venture project for co op program. Again, I want to know about co op and not CPT. If it is remotely illegal, I will steer away from this option too.

 

Joe, I am not mentioning the university name just for one reason, my team has'nt talked with them yet :).  So if the university says it is not possible, I am not going to do this. I have gone through several of these ***, SVU cases in this forum and believe me, if this university was anything like that, I would'nt have even thought about it.

 

I do have one very important question to you guys.

Why CPT from day 1 is illegal? My friends are joining these shady universities and got CPT for this year and when I argue, I do not have enough points on my side to prove its not legal. Could you guys please provide me with hard rules? I know there are many threads on this but I did not see the people pointing out to the exact rule saying it is illegal.

[JoeF]

I am not going to work full time. I am going to work part time, and study full time. My team has not yet talked to the University  about the joint venture project for co op program. Again, I want to know about co op and not CPT. If it is remotely illegal, I will steer away from this option too.

 

Joe, I am not mentioning the university name just for one reason, my team has'nt talked with them yet :).  So if the university says it is not possible, I am not going to do this. I have gone through several of these ***, SVU cases in this forum and believe me, if this university was anything like that, I would'nt have even thought about it.

 

I do have one very important question to you guys.

Why CPT from day 1 is illegal? My friends are joining these shady universities and got CPT for this year and when I argue, I do not have enough points on my side to prove its not legal. Could you guys please provide me with hard rules? I know there are many threads on this but I did not see the people pointing out to the exact rule saying it is illegal.

 

Coop for a foreign student is not possible the way you think. It would require work authorization, which mean CPT or OPT.

It would be possible with pre-completion OPT, but that is only allowed after being enrolled in the degree program for a year.

CPT is for work as integral part of the curriculum, like as part of a class, in an internship applying the things learned in class in a real-world setting. That obviously requires that you have learned things first in the class.

The shady universities abuse CPT, and they may get away with it for a while, but the authorities are catching up with them. Several universities are investigated, some are closed, and the owners have gotten prison sentences. And the "students" have gotten ankle bracelets and gotten deported.

Look up TVU. That fraud gave out CPT to work at 7-Eleven, etc. The TVU owner was recently convicted of immigration fraud, money laundering, etc.

In other cases, some "students" who got fraudulent CPTs from another fake "university" in San Jose, ***, worked in grocery stores in the Mid-West, and got killed during late-night robberies.

After the raid on TVU, no real university gives out CPT to people who just signed up, and many have stopped CPT issuance completely.

Only frauds give out CPT from day one. And signing up with such frauds nowadays kills the career in the US forever.

People who used such fake CPT from day one get RFEs, and get their H1s denied.

 

But you are an adult. Go ahead with fraud CPT if you wish to kill your career in the US. Just don't claim we didn't warn you.

[Attorney_23]

Care to tell us the name of the university?

1. Please do not include information that would identify any specific company, university, or individual (including yourself).

[EvoLove]

Thanks for the reply Joe, I will definitely give this link to my friends  and one guy literally argued with me that there are loop holes in the system and said he will continue to abuse the system as long as there are loopholes. Due to people abusing H1B with fake resumes etc.., they introduced a lottery system. I just hope they don't introduce lottery system for CPT/OPT as well as the affected people are students who are genuinely interested in their respective fields.  :( . Sigh. Anyways, I am going to discuss with my company's lawyers and Murthy law firm too to talk about legal ways to continue working ( L1, EB2 NIW etc.. ), the job is just way too unique and interesting.  If not, I might join a PhD program, I always wanted to get a PhD and was laying ground work by working in research, but not like this lol. 

 

Thanks a lot guys,

 

Coop for a foreign student is not possible the way you think. It would require work authorization, which mean CPT or OPT.

It would be possible with pre-completion OPT, but that is only allowed after being enrolled in the degree program for a year.

CPT is for work as integral part of the curriculum, like as part of a class, in an internship applying the things learned in class in a real-world setting. That obviously requires that you have learned things first in the class.

The shady universities abuse CPT, and they may get away with it for a while, but the authorities are catching up with them. Several universities are investigated, some are closed, and the owners have gotten prison sentences. And the "students" have gotten ankle bracelets and gotten deported.

Look up TVU. That fraud gave out CPT to work at 7-Eleven, etc. The TVU owner was recently convicted of immigration fraud, money laundering, etc.

In other cases, some "students" who got fraudulent CPTs from another fake "university" in San Jose, ***, worked in grocery stores in the Mid-West, and got killed during late-night robberies.

After the raid on TVU, no real university gives out CPT to people who just signed up, and many have stopped CPT issuance completely.

Only frauds give out CPT from day one. And signing up with such frauds nowadays kills the career in the US forever.

People who used such fake CPT from day one get RFEs, and get their H1s denied.

 

But you are an adult. Go ahead with fraud CPT if you wish to kill your career in the US. Just don't claim we didn't warn you.

[rahul412]

And show your insane friend the below link as proof.

 

http://forum.murthy.com/index.php?/topic/76392-h1-approved-during-cpt/

[JoeF]

Thanks for the reply Joe, I will definitely give this link to my friends  and one guy literally argued with me that there are loop holes in the system and said he will continue to abuse the system as long as there are loopholes. Due to people abusing H1B with fake resumes etc.., they introduced a lottery system. I just hope they don't introduce lottery system for CPT/OPT as well as the affected people are students who are genuinely interested in their respective fields.  :( . Sigh. Anyways, I am going to discuss with my company's lawyers and Murthy law firm too to talk about legal ways to continue working ( L1, EB2 NIW etc.. ), the job is just way too unique and interesting.  If not, I might join a PhD program, I always wanted to get a PhD and was laying ground work by working in research, but not like this lol. 

 

Thanks a lot guys,

 

Of course, some people think there are loopholes, until they get ankle bracelets...

There was a lot of fake outcry when TVU was raided and people got ankle bracelets and notices to appear (which is the first step to deportation.)

People claimed all over the place that "they didn't know" that working with fake CPT was illegal...

Three months after the TVU raid, the "Chronicle of Higher Education", a publication for university personnel, had a very-well researched article about these fake universities. The article mentioned that some former TVU students immediately signed up with another fraud in Virginia, **** (which got ordered shut down last year.) It is obvious that some people never learn...

But nowadays, nobody can claim anymore that they "didn't know". People who sign up with fraud universities deserve what they get.