Please help - H1B Cap Exempt or Not?

[dev2design]

I was working with Company A in India and they filed H-1B petition for me and got it approved in 2006 May. I stamped the visa from India only in 2008 but was unable to travel due to project requirement changes.

I continued to work for Company A and in 2010 they applied L-1B for me.I traveled to US on L-1B in Oct, 2010 and currently working in USA with the same visa/same company.

If I accept a position now and can the new company apply cap exempt petition for me? I know there is some last 6 year rule, but there is confusion how the 6 years is counted.Is the last 6 years count based on the petition approved date or counted based on the years spent on the Capped H1 petition?

If it is counted based on petition approved date I may not be cap eligible as 6 year period is over (2006 May + 6 years = 2012 May )

If it is counted based on how many years spent in the US using that CAP, it will be 0 (H1B) + 2 (L1B) = Total only 2 Years, so I should be still cap exempt.

This is very important for me for accepting a position, the company's immigration lawyer I consulted was not very sure if the 6 year time frame has expired.

Giving the dates again for your reference.

H-1B approved date: - May 2006
H-1B stamping date: - Jan 2008 (did not travel)
L-1B travel date: - Oct 2010 (Currently in USA with L-1B )


Thanks