H1B- Stamped at Chennai for 6 Months

[karpcb]

Hi Everyone,

I have attended my H1B on March 10th at chennai consulate and got my H1B stamped. But the problem is I got only 6 months period of stay. This Month end I am planning to go to U.S. My question is whether my employer can extend my stay beyong 6 months with the same petition and get stamped by U.S itself. Or I need to come back again to India(chennai) for extension.

Also I am not sure whats the reason to give 6 months period of stay. Normally they will approve H1B for 3 yrs or atleast a year.

Regards,
Karthik

[kabkaba]

Visa expiry is not the same as period of stay. Period of stay is given at the port of entry. It depends on your petition end date. Visa only needs to be valid on the day of entry.
While in the US your employer can extend the period of stay by filing a petition if you have not used 6 years of time in the US in H1 status. After that whenever you leave the US, you will need to get the Visa from a consulate in order to return.

6 months Visa can be given for various reasons, like your petition ends in 6 months or your passport may be expiring in 6 months. If the petition is also approved for 6 months only, that may be because your project ends in 6 months and your employer could not justify any employment after that.

[karpcb]

Hi,

Thanks for your response. Yes, In my I-797 petition my H1B status ends on this septemeber 30 and thats the reason they have stamped for 6 months.

Now if my employer wants to extend the petition means whats the procedure and whether I can get the extension period from U.S itsef without coming back to India once again.

[shervin143]

Your employer will know what procedure to follow to extend the petition. You will have to provode the same set of documents to your employer similar to the first time along with your existing approval notice and I-94 copies. Extension of status means, you are extending your status from within U.S. You don't have to go out of U.S (provided the approved H1B petition comes with a new I-94).

Now if my employer wants to extend the petition means whats the procedure and whether I can get the extension period from U.S itsef without coming back to India once again.