H1B duration after staying 2.5 years on L1B in US

[Amit Maheshwari]

I was in US on L1B from Jan 2015 till June 2017. Now I want to apply for H1 2018 cap. Will i be eligible for entire 6 years or will it be 6 yrs minus my 2.5 years stay in US. 

Note - I will be applying for H1 in Apr 2018 but will not enter US prior Oct 2018.

[pontevecchio]

You can only apply for a cap subject H1 on April, 2019 onwards . You can apply anytime before to claim your remainder of 3.5 years.

[JoeF]

6 years minus 2.5 years.

The clock only resets if you are outside the US for at least a year and then a new H1 in the quota is FILED. According to your timeline, you haven't been a year abroad in April.

Date of entry doesn't matter, date of filing matters.

[brighton]

You mean 2019 cap?

[JoeF]

6 hours ago, pontevecchio said:

You can only apply for a cap subject H1 on April, 2019 onwards . You can apply anytime before to claim your remainder of 3.5 years.

The OP can apply for a cap-subject H1 in April 2018. He just only would get 3.5 years. He is not cap-exempt n cause he had am L1, not an H1.

He can only get the full 6 years if he applies next year.