Six Year H1B Clock

[antartica1]

Does the time without a job count towards time spent on H1B? Will USCIS include the laid-off time in the six years H1B maximum?

For example, a person joined his H1B in January 1 2008, was laid off on July 1 2009, joined new job in January 1 2010, was laid off on August 1, 2013.

How much time does this person have left on their H1B visa? No visits outside the U.S., no change of status to other visas, and no green card applications pending.

[raghvi]

Does the time without a job count towards time spent on H1B? Will USCIS include the laid-off time in the six years H1B maximum?

For example, a person joined his H1B in January 1 2008, was laid off on July 1 2009, joined new job in January 1 2010, was laid off on August 1, 2013.

How much time does this person have left on their H1B visa? No visits outside the U.S., no change of status to other visas, and no green card applications pending.

On what visa/status was the person between July 2009 till Jan 2010 ? And what is the persons status now? Remember if you are on H1 you need to be working and getting paid if not one is out of status.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[antartica1]

Six Year H1B Clock

Does the time out of status on H1B count against the 6 year H1B clock?

[raghvi]

Does the time out of status on H1B count against the 6 year H1B clock?

Out of status period does get counted in that 6 Year period. One should either convert to another legal status or leave US before going out of status.

I am surprised how the person managed to get a job and stay in US from Jan 1 2010 despite of being out of status. Was the payroll being run during the "no job " period? Something is amiss here. If the period was more than 180 days without payroll the person could be barred from US. Certainly out of status will come up in future visa processing and transfers/extensions. Advised to discuss with an experienced attorney.

This is my opinion not legal advice.