H1B 6th Year GC not filed

[sharath2k]

Hi,

Im in my last year of H1B and my visa is going to expire in Apr 2014.My employer has not filed my case yet,

They have just posted my AD this week

Can you please let me know till what time i have chance to file my labor or what is the cutoff time to file so that i can continue to get extension.

Please help me.

Thanks,

Sharath

[Suri K]

Hello Sharath,

There are two ways to be eligible for H1 extensions beyond 6 years.

1) Your labor is approved 366 days before your 6 years completion Or

2) Your I-140 is approved before 6 year completion

So, in your case since labor is not done yet If you can get your labor and I-140 approved before H1 expires, you should be good. You will qualify for 3 years extension.

Please note that they are doing extensive audits for Labor applications, in the event your application is picked up for audit it may take several months. But the good news is as soon as labor is approved you can file for I-140 in premium processing.

Wish you all the best!!

[sharath2k]

Thanks for the quick response.

1.If my labor gets approved by Fed 2014 and file for I 140 then will i be able to get extension for 1year.

2.If they file my labor in May 2013 and Im still waiting for my labor approval in April 2014 then should i leave the country on my visa expiry. Will i be able to enter US again after my labor is approved and I140 is filed.

Im working as FTE to client not sure if that can help

[rangadu]

Looks like you have enough time to file labor 365 days before your H1 expiry if the ads are already placed.

If labor is pending till Apr 2014, you can aply 1 year. If labor is approved and I 140 approved, then you can apply 3 years.

There are ways to reclaim a few days here and there of your foreign travel to buy some more time, but looks like you wont need it.

[satya2k1]

Hi Sharath,

You might want to check with an attorney,,because, I think you labor have be filed NOT approved before 366 days prior to your 6th year expiration date. Then you will get 1 yr extensions instead of 3 yrs.. if you have I140 approved then you can get 3 yrs extension.

In your previous post, you mean to say if your labor get approved by Feb 2013??? in that case.. yes, you can get 1 year extensions. on second question...if they file labor in May 2013 , you will have less than 366 days before expiration of your 6th year H1, in that case, you have to leave the country and come back after 1 year... I do not think you can enter with approved I140.

Well,, there is another chance for you , if you have traveled during your 5 years H1B period and not present in USA (even 1 month or 2 months traveled to your home country) then you can reclaim that absence time which might help you. One of my friend traveled to India for visa stamping and he got 221g and had to stay for 3 months... when he applied for GC labor, he reclaimed those 3 months..which helped him.

Hope this helps you.

[pontevecchio]

"There are two ways to be eligible for H1 extensions beyond 6 years.

1) Your labor is approved 366 days before your 6 years completion Or

2) Your I-140 is approved before 6 year completion"

Wrong. PERM pending 365 days plus or I-140 pending 365 days plus means one year extensions. I-140 approved means 3 year extensions are possible.

[sharath2k]

Thanks to every one for the reply.

@pontevecchio

I didnt quite get what you meant.

1) Your labor is approved 366 days before your 6 years completion Or

You mean to say in my case labor has to be approved before Apr 2013 saying my visa will expire on April 2014.

----------------------------------------------------------------

For how many days job posting should be present before we file.

My employer posted in 4 places

1.State workforce - Jan11

2.indeed.com online job site - Jan11

3.Internal job site - Jan11

4.News paper for consecutive 2 weeks

[catx]

PERM pending 365 days plus or I-140 pending 365 days plus means one year extensions. I-140 approved means 3 year extensions are possible.

This is the correct information. Accordingly, your only hope of extending your stay in the U.S. is if the PERM labor certification application being filed by your employer for you is approved and the subsequent I-140 petition is approved through premium processing. However, you should not count on everything working out perfectly. For example, it can take a couple weeks or more after being notified of the PERM labor certification approval by e-mail to receive the certification document, which is needed to file the I-140 petition. These typical preparation and processing times make it difficult to get through the PERM labor certification application approval and the I-140 petition approval in a short timeframe. It is advisable to plan for having to leave the U.S. when your H-1B visa expires, wait the minimum 1 year outside the U.S., and come back on a new H-1B visa.

[sharath2k]

So as per catx i cant stay in US and should plan to go back India in Apr 2014

If i get my labor approved by Jan 2014 and my I140 is pending by Apr 2014 then will I be able to stay here...

[pontevecchio]

If your PERM is pending 365 days in April,2014 you will get one year extensions. If your Perm is approved before that you will get no extension. If the I-140 is subsequently approved you will be eligible for 3 year extensions. That means the company would try and use PP for the I-140 if applicable after the PERM is approved. Approved PERM has no meaning to you in terms of H1 extensions beyond the initial 6.