H1B to F1 and back to H1B - Help !!

[hrishi16]

Hello,

I came to the U.S on F1 visa in Fall 2008 and graduated in Summer 2011. Upon graduation, I worked on OPT for 1 year and applied for H1B.

My H1B period started from October 2012. It was approved for initial 3 years.  I worked on H1B for 20 months and decided to go back to graduate school (for PhD). I am graduating in December 2017. 

Based on some of the responses I have read, I would like to know:

1) Will I be exempted from cap for my new application (April 2018)?

2) In case of being cap exempted will I have until October 2018 on my H1B or additional 4 years that I previously had not used (October 2018-2022) ?

Can someone please advise?

Thank you for your help in advance !!

HK

 

[shekar11#]

I think you will get 52 months back on H-1. But let's wait for few more experts to chime in. I know L-1 visa is counted during the US stay but not sure about F-1.