Very Urgent H1B Question...

[satyajit308]

I would appreciate if anyone can help me with below information,its very urgent....

Below is my Case situation...

My H1 B was approved in Sep 2005 under Masters Quota.I worked in U.S from Sep 2005 till May 2009,

In May 2009,I lost my job & went back to India and stayed for 2yrs.I came back to U.S in May 2011 on L1 B visa.I have following two questions.

1. As I stayed outside the country for 2 years ( 2009 -2011),am I eligible to file for new H1B under the 2012 Quota and if approved will I be eligible for complete 6yrs?

2. If the current quota of 65000 visa gets exhausted in next 1 or 2 months,will I be able to reopen my old H1B by transfering it to any other employer and start working immediately

Please reply....

[JoeF]

You are currently on L1. That means you won't be getting the full 6 years on H1.

[MOG]

L visa is much better than H1-B. There is no need to have the market tested (first step of the green card process) for your position and you can apply for the second step of the green card process. If you are not from India or China, you might get your green card in a few months (15 days fro I140 premium processed and less than 4 months for I485). If your company does not want to start a green card process for you, you can start this process with any knowledgeable lawyer since you don't need to test the market. As for as full 6 years on H1, you should be able to use all of the unused years if you would like to do so.