L1 Expired..Valid I-94 ..converting to H1...Need Advice urgently

[user@NJ]

Hi,

I have a very peculiar condition, not sure whether many have the same condition.

I travelled to US in 2008 on L1 visa by "Company A" valid till May 2011.

Stayed in US till Jan 2011 and went out of US for a month.

During out of india stay I also went for restamping with fresh L1 from "Company A" in Mar 2011 and was rejected by US consulate.

As my older visa ( which was received in 2008) was valid till May 2011, reentered US in April 2011 with older visa and got an I-94 till April 2014.

Period of stay:

July 2008 - March 1st 2011. (US)

March 2nd 2011 - April 2nd 2011

April 3rd 2011 - Till now (US)

Now a new "Company B" is ready to file my H1 which will be effective from Oct 2013,

My question is:

1) What is the expected H1 visa period I will get?

2) How the 6 years stay in US will be counted.

a) Will the 6 years be counted for the stay when I had the valid visa i.e. July 2008- May 2011.

OR

b) it will count from July 2011 till now (excluding the 3 weeks I was in INDIA) i.e. July 2008 - Sept 2013( 5 years 2 months). if this will be counted then will I get the H1 approved for 10 months considering the 6 years period.

3) if yes to question 2(b) , Can H1 be extended if my new employer starts the GC processing before H1 validity.

4) What options do I have to ensure that I dont have to go out of country and get converted to H1 without any legal implications and can stay for longer duration.

Please advise as soon as possible as I need to discuss with company B and get the buy in before making any decision.

Thanks in advance.

[rohang]

lots of "ifs" in your situation. but if you go by rule, you will be getting H1b for 10 month period. Even if you get visa stating 3yr period(which is common for first time H1), you will still have 10 months only. any stay longer than that will be counted as out of status.

Regarding GC, I think it will be too less time if they will start after Oct 2013. I am not expert in GC processing, but i think PERM can be applied even before you join new employer, so if new company is that much interested in your profile, ask them to apply for PERM now.