Question about Unused Visa

[F12H1]

Hello All!
Posting on behalf of a friend who is in India presently.

His case as follows... Came in USA on F1 for Masters in '07 and then moved to H-1B. He lost his job in July 2015 with about 14 months left on his 6 years of H-1B. Since he only had about 14 months prospective employers where not willing to hire him. He eventually moved back to India in Oct 2015 and has been in India since then.

He is now looking at options to come back to US and his questions are

1) Can he still utilize the remaining 14 months from his previous H-1B quota?

2) Is he now eligible for getting a new 6 year term as he has been out of the country for a more than a year?

3) If 1 & 2 are both yes then can he start a job with utilizing the 14 months first and then get a 6 years extension?


If there are any points that need more clarification please do let me know.


Thanks!

[raghvi]

Hello All!
Posting on behalf of a friend who is in India presently.

His case as follows... Came in USA on F1 for Masters in '07 and then moved to H-1B. He lost his job in July 2015 with about 14 months left on his 6 years of H-1B. Since he only had about 14 months prospective employers where not willing to hire him. He eventually moved back to India in Oct 2015 and has been in India since then.

He is now looking at options to come back to US and his questions are

1) Can he still utilize the remaining 14 months from his previous H-1B quota?

2) Is he now eligible for getting a new 6 year term as he has been out of the country for a more than a year?

3) If 1 & 2 are both yes then can he start a job with utilizing the 14 months first and then get a 6 years extension?


If there are any points that need more clarification please do let me know.


Thanks!

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. No. If he wants fresh 6 Year eligibility H1, he needs to apply in fresh cap.If he wants to extend the previous H1 beyond the remaining 14 Months, he needs to have his GC filed in a timely manner.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[F12H1]

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. No. If he wants fresh 6 Year eligibility H1, he needs to apply in fresh cap.If he wants to extend the previous H1 beyond the remaining 14 Months, he needs to have his GC filed in a timely manner.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thanks Raghvi for the reply back! On point #3; lets assume he starts work with a USA employer in June 2017 so based on existing remaining time he can work till Aug 2018 (14 months). Come April 2018 he needs to file a fresh H-1B to ensure he can work past Aug 2018. As it is a new application it will probably go through the lottery. So there is no guarantee that the new H-1B application will be approved 100%. Is my understanding correct?


Thanks!
HI