H1B Renewal done early, valid for less than 3 years

[nrawal]

Hi all,

 

I have a few questions and I would appreciate if you could help me answer any of them.

 

Some background information:

My 1st H1B is valid till November 2014 and my employer proactively filed the petition for the renewal last month in January which got approved. I just received the documents and it appears that the 2nd H1B will be valid till January 2017. It seems that the 2nd H1B's expiration date is 3 years from the date of approval of the petition and NOT 3 years from the expiration of the 1st H1B. This will mean that my 2nd H1B will be almost 11 months short of 3 years. 

 

My questions below:

1. Is that usually the case?

2. Or did my employer's attorneys screw up by filing early costing me 11 months of my H1B term?

3. Anything I can do at this point to have the 2nd H1B for 3 full years? Can I withdraw the renewal application? 

4. I am looking to move to another company for career reasons, if things work out, I will follow the procedure of transferring the visa to them. If they file for my visa, how will the recently approved visa from my current employer come into picture? Will the visa from the new employer still be valid till January 2017 or will I get it for 3 years?

 

Any help is much appreciated.

 

 

[catx]

Your employer's attorney should have known that an I-129 petition for a H-1B extension visa can only be filed 6 month before the expiration date of the current H-1B visa (not 11 months).  You should follow up with them regarding why they filed an !-129 petition so early and see what they can do to rectify the situation.  It may turn out that there is nothing that can be done.  However, your new H-1B visa should not deny you from getting the total of 6 years (but may require a 3rd H-1B visa for the 11 months).

[nrawal]

Thanks catx. I am going to get clarification from my employer's attorney as to why it was handled this way.

 

I'd appreciate if anyone else have some thoughts or can help me answer my other questions.

[pontevecchio]

I would keep a low profile. They do not need to justify anything to you. The H1 expenses will be the employers for your 6 years.

[nrawal]

Thanks pontevecchio. Not sure how will I benefit by keeping a low profile though. It's my H1B tenure on the line, my clock was already ticking and now it's ticking even faster. I feel I atleast should have been informed that this would happen, so that I could have made an informed decision about the renewal.

[catx]

Thanks pontevecchio. Not sure how will I benefit by keeping a low profile though. It's my H1B tenure on the line, my clock was already ticking and now it's ticking even faster. I feel I at least should have been informed that this would happen, so that I could have made an informed decision about the renewal.

 

Your "clock" should not be "ticking down faster".  You should still have the full 6 years, even if you need to get a 3rd H-1B extension visa for the additional time (11 months).

 

All aliens and immigrants need to be well informed on their status, their next required actions (e.g. visa and I-94 expiry date and extension process), and make proactive plans -- even if the sponsoring party is responsible to take the next required action, e.g. employer filing a petition for an extension visa.  This does not mean an alien or immigrant needs to know all the details of the relevant immigration laws, regulations, and rules, which is the reason for working with a qualified, experienced immigration attorney, but needs to fully understand their status and requirements.

 

Just like working on projects -- failure to plan is planning to fail.