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Extending the same H1B petition beyond 6th year after staying outside US for 365 days
I am currently on a L1B that maxed out (completed 5 years) this month, on August 25th 2009 and i will have to leave the US on August 31, 2009. If an employer wants to file a new H1B for me now, how much time will I get on the H1B? My understanding is that, due to the 6 year limit, I will only get 1 year (i.e. Oct1 2009 - August 25,2010).
If I ask my employer to request a start date of Jan 2010, depart the US now, stay outside the US for 365 days and time my return such that it's after 365 days (say in September 2010) but before my petition expiry (say December 2010), can i stay for 6 more years on the same H1? Meaning, can i apply for extension after i return and extend my stay on the same H1B beyond December 2010?
In other words, when i re-enter, will i get another 6 years from September 2010 (on the same H1)? Because technically, at that point, i would have already stayed outside the US for 365 days or more and my understanding is that the H1B clock would start over fresh.
If answer to the above is No, should i apply for a NEW H1B for the 6 year limit to start again? If yes, will the new H1 be counted against the 65k cap...Or Not really because i already had a previous petition in the preceeding 6 years that was counted once against the cap?
Any help from you will be greatly appreciated. My employer is asking me to pay money for processing the H1B and i wouldn't want to do that unless there is a possibility of extending the H1. I would rather have him apply next year if that's the case.
Other Questions I have
1. Can I ask my employer to file the H1B with a start date of Jan 2010 instead of Oct1, 2009. Meaning, can the employer request any start date after Oct 1, 2009? (Is there some flexibility around it or does the start date always have to be Oct 1, 2009?)
2. If he can request any start date, in my case, will the End Date on the petition be 1 year from the start date (say Jan 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010) Or can he request only until August 25, 2010 (because that is when I maxed out and completed 5 years on the L1B)?
If I ask my employer to request a start date of Jan 2010, depart the US now, stay outside the US for 365 days and time my return such that it's after 365 days (say in September 2010) but before my petition expiry (say December 2010), can i stay for 6 more years on the same H1? Meaning, can i apply for extension after i return and extend my stay on the same H1B beyond December 2010?
In other words, when i re-enter, will i get another 6 years from September 2010 (on the same H1)? Because technically, at that point, i would have already stayed outside the US for 365 days or more and my understanding is that the H1B clock would start over fresh.
If answer to the above is No, should i apply for a NEW H1B for the 6 year limit to start again? If yes, will the new H1 be counted against the 65k cap...Or Not really because i already had a previous petition in the preceeding 6 years that was counted once against the cap?
Any help from you will be greatly appreciated. My employer is asking me to pay money for processing the H1B and i wouldn't want to do that unless there is a possibility of extending the H1. I would rather have him apply next year if that's the case.
Other Questions I have
1. Can I ask my employer to file the H1B with a start date of Jan 2010 instead of Oct1, 2009. Meaning, can the employer request any start date after Oct 1, 2009? (Is there some flexibility around it or does the start date always have to be Oct 1, 2009?)
2. If he can request any start date, in my case, will the End Date on the petition be 1 year from the start date (say Jan 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010) Or can he request only until August 25, 2010 (because that is when I maxed out and completed 5 years on the L1B)?
