H1B VISA after 5yrs of L1B – Cooling Off Period

[yvisaq]

Hi,

My 5 years of continuous Stay in U.S. will max out in May 2017. I will go to India then, and will join another company immediately.

Question :-
If my new employer files my H1B on April 2018, then if approved, will I get full 6 years of H1B (As I will be outside U.S. for more than a year from May 2017 till Oct 2018 when Visa actually starts).
Or, will I get just 1 year of H1B (as I won’t complete 1 year of mandatory outside U.S. stay by April 1st , 2018 when Visa will be filed). And, If I will get just 1 year of H1B, then will I be eligible for extension up to 5 more years (as before entering U.S. I will complete my 1 year outside U.S. stay).
Please advise.

[raghvi]

Hi,

My 5 years of continuous Stay in U.S. will max out in May 2017. I will go to India then, and will join another company immediately.

Question :-
If my new employer files my H1B on April 2018, then if approved, will I get full 6 years of H1B (As I will be outside U.S. for more than a year from May 2017 till Oct 2018 when Visa actually starts).
Or, will I get just 1 year of H1B (as I won’t complete 1 year of mandatory outside U.S. stay by April 1st , 2018 when Visa will be filed). And, If I will get just 1 year of H1B, then will I be eligible for extension up to 5 more years (as before entering U.S. I will complete my 1 year outside U.S. stay).
Please advise.

I would advise leaving in March end 2017 so that by 01April 2018 you would have completed 1 Year outside stay requirement.

And if you get H1 only for 1 Year then in order to extend beyond 6th year completion you need to have PERM filed for at least 365 days or have I140 approved.

Again, this is based upon the current rules and regulation. By April 2018 the rules may change.

This is my opinion not legal advice.