Question about H1b to greencard

[nrpunja]

Hello,

I came to the US in 2004 on F1 and changed to H1b non cap in 2008. I decided to go back to school and switched back to F1 in 2010 and upon graduating started working for a children's hospital. I am currently on my second H1b non cap which expires in July 2016. So here are my questions -

1) Do I still have 6 years of H1b or just 3 years which ends in July 2016. I thought you get 6 years H1b for each education level (my first H1b was associated with my bachelors).
2) I am looking for a new job now- can I work for a for-profit company and transfer my h1b or do I have to apply in April for the lottery and switch to cap?
3) How long before H1b can I apply for greencard? I heard somewhere that as long as it is one year prior to H1b expiration (in my case it is July 2015) it should be alright.

I was hoping the new company that i would work for would do the H1b transfer and apply for greencard, but before doing any of it I wanted clarification as to what my options are.

Any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[raghvi]

Hello,

I came to the US in 2004 on F1 and changed to H1b non cap in 2008. I decided to go back to school and switched back to F1 in 2010 and upon graduating started working for a children's hospital. I am currently on my second H1b non cap which expires in July 2016. So here are my questions -

1) Do I still have 6 years of H1b or just 3 years which ends in July 2016. I thought you get 6 years H1b for each education level (my first H1b was associated with my bachelors).
2) I am looking for a new job now- can I work for a for-profit company and transfer my h1b or do I have to apply in April for the lottery and switch to cap?
3) How long before H1b can I apply for greencard? I heard somewhere that as long as it is one year prior to H1b expiration (in my case it is July 2015) it should be alright.

I was hoping the new company that i would work for would do the H1b transfer and apply for greencard, but before doing any of it I wanted clarification as to what my options are.

Any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks!

1. Calculate how many days you have spent in US while on H1 . You would have 6 Years minus these many days remaining.
2. Cap exempt to Cap subject, you have to file new petition and the next cap subject petition window opens only in April 2015, with a start date of Oct 2015. So yes, your employer would have to wait till April 2015, but many employers start the paper work much earlier, around Nov-Dec to not miss the April date.
3. Your employer can apply green card at any time. But in order to stay beyond the 6th Year (as per calculation of answer 1 above) you either need to have the PERM filed 365 days before the 6th Year end (that is before your 5th Year on H1 ends) , or I140 to be approved before 6th Year end.

By the way , what is your country of birth as that primarily decides how many years of wait you you are looking at for the green card.

This is my opinion not legal advice.