H1B Extension

[vmk]

My GC was filed in Dec 2004 thru RIR. It got approved in Feb 2007. But was filed with wrong work experience and I was in a situation where I was not able to proceed with my I140. So my company filed my GC Labor again thru PERM in Jan 2008 and it got approved in March 2008. My I140 got filed in April 2008. I was in L1B Status till october 2006 and changed to H1B. My H1B expires in June 2008. In June 2008, I will also be completing my 6 year stay in US. Now what are my options to extend my H1B for the 7th year. Due to the recent law in 2007, my company says, I won't be able to use my approved labor (thru RIR), as I didnot file my I140 within 6 months. Can anybody pls tell me what are my options to extend my H1B in this scenario.

[txh1b]

I think there is one option and not sure if you will like it. You just have to let your labor age out before your H1b period expires. As your labor was filed in Jan 2008, you just have to make your H1b valid until Jan 2009 before you can seek any extensions based on the labor.

One way that I can see it could happen is by taking a long leave from your employer, stay outside the US, work from foreign country remotely. Any time spent outside the US can be recaptured to your H1b. So essentially, you have 2 months ramianing from the current H1b plus any time that you have vacationed outside US until now while on L1/H1 status.

You just have to act quickly and need employer support.

If they dont agree for work remotely, you could go on Leave of absence and come back in Nov/Dec or earlier depending on how many months you can recapture from vacations and seek extensions before entering in November.

Hope I made sense.

[vmk]

Thanks a lot for your help

[vmk]

H1B Extension



My current H1B expires on June 15,2008. Assuming my I-140 gets approved in 8-9 months, which is Dec 2008-Jan 2009, would I be able to extend my H1B for 3 years using my current H1B, though it expires in June 2008. Assuming I will leave to India by May 2008 end and will have atleast 2 weeks for recapture.Can anyone pls tell me how this works.

[txh1b]

If you can wait outside the US for your I140 approval, you can apply for an extension once approved and will get 3 year H1b. It works just like a normal H1b extension except that your employer need to be willing to offer the long Leave of Absence.

[vmk]

Thanks for your reply once again. Is there a minimum number of days of recapture criteria for this kind of extension. I am actually discussing with my manager on this. How many number of days would be a safe one for recapture in this kind of a scenario. Can you pls let me know.

[txh1b]

Any number is fine. You do the math. Preferably, if I were you, I would go with the maximum possible made available by immediately moving out if I know I can come back again.