Nee d Help: Urgent: H1 6 years completion

[r01anand]

Hello All:
I am having a tricky situation. My H1B (complete 6 year term) is expiring in March 2016. My current employer (X) has not filed for Labor yet (PERM). With few months remaining I have secured a job in another firm in the US (Y). I have the following questions:
1. I know that filing for labor now its quite difficult form me to get the I140 approved before the 6 year completion. With vacations being considered the end date may change to April end but even then it is risky.
2. What are my options if i dont want to leave the US: can the new company (Y) which is hiring me in the US apply for L1 for me immediately to ensure continuity?
I definitely want to move to this new company, old company did not seem to care about this situation of mine. What can be done (by new company Y) in order for me to secure a position in the new company Y and also continue my stint in the US.
3. Other option: Can my current company X apply for L1 immediately to avoid the situation? How can my current employer ensure my continuity in US.

Please let me know. Please help as I have to respond back to the new employer in a day with my immigration details. I need to have a complete hold of options at hand.

thanks
Narayanan

[raghvi]

Hello All:
I am having a tricky situation. My H1B (complete 6 year term) is expiring in March 2016. My current employer (X) has not filed for Labor yet (PERM). With few months remaining I have secured a job in another firm in the US (Y). I have the following questions:
1. I know that filing for labor now its quite difficult form me to get the I140 approved before the 6 year completion. With vacations being considered the end date may change to April end but even then it is risky.
2. What are my options if i dont want to leave the US: can the new company (Y) which is hiring me in the US apply for L1 for me immediately to ensure continuity?
I definitely want to move to this new company, old company did not seem to care about this situation of mine. What can be done (by new company Y) in order for me to secure a position in the new company Y and also continue my stint in the US.
3. Other option: Can my current company X apply for L1 immediately to avoid the situation? How can my current employer ensure my continuity in US.

Please let me know. Please help as I have to respond back to the new employer in a day with my immigration details. I need to have a complete hold of options at hand.

thanks
Narayanan

1. Applying labor through X or Y may not in itself help you stay beyond 6th Year as you would not have completed 365 days of Labor pending process(if it is still pending March/April 2016), only hope is getting labor + I140 approval done before March 2016, which is cutting it too close and very unlikely. But this should in itself not be a reason to delay filing labor, get X, and if possible Y too, to file it immediately, whether they would do it or not considering the time limitations would depend upon how critically they need you. Considering the time constraints, past processing time, paperwork involved, It very unlikely that you would get to stay on H1 beyond March 2016 with either X or Y.
2. Were you with X outside US for at least 1 Year before entering US? L1+ H1 can at max be for 6 Years, so even if theoretically it was possible to move from H1 to L1, you would be crossing the time.

Whats your spouse's visa status? Another thing to explore is possibility for you to move to H4/L2/F1/F2/B2 till the time your labor is pending for at least 1 Year or I140 approved (with X or Y). Of course each of these status have further limitations in your ability to work.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[r01anand]

1. Applying labor through X or Y may not in itself help you stay beyond 6th Year as you would not have completed 365 days of Labor pending process(if it is still pending March/April 2016), only hope is getting labor + I140 approval done before March 2016, which is cutting it too close and very unlikely. But this should in itself not be a reason to delay filing labor, get X, and if possible Y too, to file it immediately, whether they would do it or not considering the time limitations would depend upon how critically they need you. Considering the time constraints, past processing time, paperwork involved, It very unlikely that you would get to stay on H1 beyond March 2016 with either X or Y.
2. Were you with X outside US for at least 1 Year before entering US? L1+ H1 can at max be for 6 Years, so even if theoretically it was possible to move from H1 to L1, you would be crossing the time.

Whats your spouse's visa status? Another thing to explore is possibility for you to move to H4/L2/F1/F2/B2 till the time your labor is pending for at least 1 Year or I140 approved (with X or Y). Of course each of these status have further limitations in your ability to work.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thank you Raghavi for your prompt reply. Yes I was in india from 2012 Jan to 2013 Feb before i travelled to the usa in March 2013.
Currently i am on a 21-22 day vacation in India.

Can the current company X do an L1A for me? Or even that is not possible because i have exhausted 6 years - thought H1+L1 = 6 years is for L1B alone.
Can the new company Y apply for L1A ?

Can current company do an EB1? Right now they have prepared everything for EB2- looks like they (X) might apply in Sept 1st week.

thanks
Anand

[raghvi]

Thank you Raghavi for your prompt reply. Yes I was in india from 2012 Jan to 2013 Feb before i travelled to the usa in March 2013.
Currently i am on a 21-22 day vacation in India.

Can the current company X do an L1A for me? Or even that is not possible because i have exhausted 6 years - thought H1+L1 = 6 years is for L1B alone.
Can the new company Y apply for L1A ?

Can current company do an EB1? Right now they have prepared everything for EB2- looks like they (X) might apply in Sept 1st week.

thanks
Anand

If you have spent Jan 2012 to Feb 2013 in India, I really doubt that you have exhausted your 6 Years of H1/L1. Remember, the 6 Years is calculated based only on the time spent in US while on L1 or H1.
So might be a good idea to first revisit your entry and exist records since the first time you came to US and see if you have time that can be recaptured.

Its L1+ H1 to be max 6 Years. For EB1 one needs an Executive permanent position, if they have opening which qualifies for EB2 then the same opening would not qualify for EB1, they would have to re visit which job profile you would fit under in order to file for EB1. Also, one would have to prove Managerial/Executive experience for 1 year outside US, and there might be minimum salary requirements for EB1 too, it may be possible to file but without getting employer's support its not possible.

It might be a good idea to have a hard talk with your Management and subsequently with your immigration team as to how they plan to keep you here, if they want to, beyond your current visa expiry.



This is my opinion not legal advice.