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Is previous US stay on L1 counted in fresh H1 petition

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  • Is previous US stay on L1 counted in fresh H1 petition

    I first arrived in the US in July 2008 on L1B visa which was due to expire on 1st Dec 2010. In July 2010, my employer filed an application for L1 extension which was rejected by USCIS in Oct 2010. My employer then filed a H1B petition under premium processing on my behalf in Nov 2010 as the H1 quota was still open at that time. However, I got an RFE on H1 and as my L1 visa was about to expire, I returned back to India. I also submitted the documents requested by the USCIS for the RFE on H1 after which they issued another RFE in Dec 2010. After replying to the second RFE, My H1 petition finally got approved in January 2011 and it was approved till Feb 2013 as the contract with the client was valid till that time. My visa stamping then got delayed due to various issues and finally got my H1 visa stamped in May 2011 from the US consulate in India. I then returned back to US on the new H1 visa in last week of May 2011. My employer again filed for H1 extension in Oct 2012 as it was due to expire in Feb 2013. I was under the impression that USCIS would consider my previous L1 stay for this extension as there was a gap of roughly 6 months in between and since I had completed 29 months stay on L1 and 21 months on H1 at the time of extension (total of 4 yrs, 2 months), I would get an extension for the remaining 1 Year and 8 Months left out of my 6 years of H1. However, this time I got an extension for another 3 years till Feb 2016. My question is that is it possible that I got the 3 years extension because USCIS did not consider my previous L1 stay in the US as I had returned to India after that visa expired and returned to US on a fresh H1? I am more concerned about the green card process. If I were to file for green card, would my previous L1 stay in the US be counted which would currently make me almost at the end of my 5th year right now or would USCIS consider only the time I spent on H1 which would be around 2 yrs and 5 months, starting from May 2011, considering that L1 stay was not counted for my H1 extension.

  • #2
    Originally posted by prashant78 View Post
    I first arrived in the US in July 2008 on L1B visa which was due to expire on 1st Dec 2010. In July 2010, my employer filed an application for L1 extension which was rejected by USCIS in Oct 2010. My employer then filed a H1B petition under premium processing on my behalf in Nov 2010 as the H1 quota was still open at that time. However, I got an RFE on H1 and as my L1 visa was about to expire, I returned back to India. I also submitted the documents requested by the USCIS for the RFE on H1 after which they issued another RFE in Dec 2010. After replying to the second RFE, My H1 petition finally got approved in January 2011 and it was approved till Feb 2013 as the contract with the client was valid till that time. My visa stamping then got delayed due to various issues and finally got my H1 visa stamped in May 2011 from the US consulate in India. I then returned back to US on the new H1 visa in last week of May 2011. My employer again filed for H1 extension in Oct 2012 as it was due to expire in Feb 2013. I was under the impression that USCIS would consider my previous L1 stay for this extension as there was a gap of roughly 6 months in between and since I had completed 29 months stay on L1 and 21 months on H1 at the time of extension (total of 4 yrs, 2 months), I would get an extension for the remaining 1 Year and 8 Months left out of my 6 years of H1. However, this time I got an extension for another 3 years till Feb 2016. My question is that is it possible that I got the 3 years extension because USCIS did not consider my previous L1 stay in the US as I had returned to India after that visa expired and returned to US on a fresh H1? I am more concerned about the green card process. If I were to file for green card, would my previous L1 stay in the US be counted which would currently make me almost at the end of my 5th year right now or would USCIS consider only the time I spent on H1 which would be around 2 yrs and 5 months, starting from May 2011, considering that L1 stay was not counted for my H1 extension.
    In my opinion USCIS erred in granting you 3 Years H1 extension till 2016 as you were using an old H1 petition.

    Advisable to talk to an immigration attorney to determine the best option.

    This is my opinion not legal advice.

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