H1B pending work permission

[Kkr001]

Hi all,

I am new to this community. I have tricky issue. I have received an h1B approval earlier (about 3 years back), but before I get on payroll of the employee, I went on F1 status. Now I am about to graduate and received a job offer. The new employer is willing to file an H1B application for me.

Q.1 Am I subject to Quota ?
Q.2 Can I start working while my H1B approval is pending?

Is there anything you guys think I should know, please feel free to mention. I sincerely appreciate your time, and Looking forward to have you inputs.

Thank you

[kabkaba]

Hi all,

I am new to this community. I have tricky issue. I have received an h1B approval earlier (about 3 years back), but before I get on payroll of the employee, I went on F1 status. Now I am about to graduate and received a job offer. The new employer is willing to file an H1B application for me.

Q.1 Am I subject to Quota ? No, you are exempt.
Q.2 Can I start working while my H1B approval is pending? No, unless you have OPT.

Is there anything you guys think I should know, please feel free to mention. I sincerely appreciate your time, and Looking forward to have you inputs.

Thank you

See above.

[shervin143]

To add to the below, there is a premium process that can give you a result of a COS to H1B within 15 days.

[Kkr001]

Thank you very much guys. I appreciate it.

Shervin, what is COS? And, is there something different about it? (or is that same as premium filing).

I dont think I can start working for next 2 months anyways, so I guess if the regular filing answers me in 2 months, I can do regular one.

Thank you,

[shervin143]

what is COS? And, is there something different about it? (or is that same as premium filing).
>>> Since you are in F1 status now, you need to change your status to H1B to start working. It is just an option while filing the H1B petition. If the person is in U.S in a different status, then H1B can be filed as a COS (Change of status) and when it gets approved (H1B approval will come with a new I-94) you can start working for the H1B sponsor. On the other hand, if H1B is filed for Consular process (usually done when the person is outside U.S) then upon approval, you should get the H1B visa stamped and return back in H1B visa to work.

I dont think I can start working for next 2 months anyways, so I guess if the regular filing answers me in 2 months, I can do regular one.
>>> Well, you can do that if you are okay to wait. It can take anywhere between 2-3 months to get the decision in normal process.

[kabkaba]

Thank you very much guys. I appreciate it.

Shervin, what is COS? And, is there something different about it? (or is that same as premium filing).

I dont think I can start working for next 2 months anyways, so I guess if the regular filing answers me in 2 months, I can do regular one.

Thank you,

Regular is the way to go then. Once the change of status is approved, you must start working immediately from the effective date. There is no bench period allowed.

[Kkr001]

Thank you once again guys.

Kabkaba,
So does that mean if I file for Premium processing, let's say on 20th march and if I get an approval on 5th April, I will have to start working on that day ? or in Filing I can mention I would like to ("effective date") start working on say 15th may?

Sorry to sound so naive, but this is always a delicate issue and I'd rather not get into any needless complication.

Thanks

[shervin143]

The effective date can be requested by the employer to be in the future. They can request the effective date to be upto 6 months in the future. The H1B effective date will be mentioned in the H1B approval notice and that is the date on which your status will actually change from F1 to H1B. You should start working from that date to avoid going out of status on H1B.

Thank you once again guys.

Kabkaba,
So does that mean if I file for Premium processing, let's say on 20th march and if I get an approval on 5th April, I will have to start working on that day ? or in Filing I can mention I would like to ("effective date") start working on say 15th may?

Sorry to sound so naive, but this is always a delicate issue and I'd rather not get into any needless complication.

Thanks

[Kkr001]

Thank you guys. Helped me a lot.

Take care.