PERM and I140 process may not complete before end of H1B 6 year CAP limit

[srm2587]

Hi,

My H1B 6 year CAP limit ends in Mid December of this year 2023.

I had started my PERM/I140 process in my current company in August of 2022 and the application is currently at the stage of PWD/ Recruitment.

However due to recent layoffs in my company announced in month of Jan, the PERM process has been paused at the moment and I am currently awaiting on when it would be able to resume again. 

To ensure I have back up options with me for the worst case scenario that my I140 process does not get done by December this year, I am currently looking at the following options:

1. The main advice that I received from the immigration team here at the company is to work outside US for a year and then apply for lottery process for H1B after a year(This would be 2025). Would I still be able to come back on L1B in the year 2025 and also apply for H1B in the same year?

 

2. The 2nd option that I am looking into is to look for colleges that offer Day 1 CPT option using which I can continue to extend my stay in US till I go back on H1B visa via lottery. However I see  this is a much riskier option with regards to being flagged by immigration authorities based on as

 

I had wanted advice/suggestions on how to proceed between these 2 options.