L1A to H1B in 7th year

[Ak_2021]

Hi All,

I am in the 7th year of L1A with my maxout reaching in September 2021(with all recaptured time). I have an approved I140 but cannot be used for L extensions. Employer also filed an H1B petition as Change of Status in the 7th year as it got picked in the lottery. I have some attorneys tell me that it is not possible to get an H1 beyond 6 years as the time towards L is counted to 6 years of H1 but have some attorneys also tell me that I am eligible since it is my first H1 that is picked in the CAP making it a fresh H1 since i was never counted towards the CAP in the past.

Has anyone been through this scenario. I am curious for how such cases have gone?

[rkk09]

Hi,
As per my knowledge, If you have utilized maximum years then you will need to be out side of USA for one year then eligible for CAP again.. in your scenario, anyhow you got picked up and hope you would have submitted the petition. Just wait for the status on the petition.
All the best.
Thanks

[Ak_2021]

Thank you for your response and yes thats what i thought initially but i had 2 attorneys tell me that i am eligible for a fresh H1 since i was not accounted for an H1 quota/CAP in the past while other attorneys say it cannot go through since, to your point, i have the 6 years exhausted in my year 7 L1A.

I was curious to hear of any outcomes on this in the past and searched all over the net to find an answer but i couldnt find one post that would have an outcome listed by someone gone through this. I am pretty confident I cannot be the first one in this world to be in this situation but yeah keeping the curosity aside, my petition's outcome would tell me soon.

[visayatri]

you are on L1A which is EB1 where the priority date is current. Any reason you have not filed for AOS? that would get you away from this madness of visa/lottery.

[Ak_2021]

Yes, thanks to my employer who filed it in EB2 due to what they call- "company policies" ..... with a priority date of 2017.

[Estebanm]

Me and my husband are working for the same company. It is a life science firm with cancer research set up in Hospital . Today morning it was announced that the company is shut down permanently due to COVID-19 situation, since we cannot source patient samples for many more months. This leaves all the employees with no jobs. We are in work visa(L1). My husband is in L1A for 6 years now. Is it possible to change to H1B after 6 years or is there a cooling period of 1 year to return to home country. Are they any attorneys or experts in this group? I need some advice on if there is a possibility to change the Visa. Are there any alternative visa options available.