Of course, the link cited above does not work. However, if you check the FAQs at Carl Shusterman's website (I chose that site since it was the site that was used in the nonworking link) you will find the following question and answer, note the last sentence in the second paragraph of the answer:
Q3. Does the law allow certain persons to extend their H-1B status for more than six years?
A. Yes. Section 104(c) allows ANY alien (1) who is the beneficiary of a FILED EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 visa petition; and (2) would be eligible to apply for permanent residence except for the application of per-country limitations (e.g. born in India or mainland China) to apply to the INS for extensions of nonimmigrant status until his or her adjustment of status application has been adjudicated. Beware, the law states that the application "may" be approved. This means that it may be denied as well.
Section 106 contains special provisions requiring the INS to grant extensions, in one-year increments, past the six-year maximum, in cases of lengthy adjudications. This section only applies to (1) H-1B workers, (2) who are the beneficiaries of EB visa petitions or who have submitted applications for adjustment of status, and only if (3) 365 days or more have elapsed since (a) the filing of an application for a labor certification on their behalf or (b) the filing of an EB visa petition on their behalf. Notice that an H-1B worker whose application in still in the labor certification stage is NOT eligible for an extension under this section.
You can also see Sheila Murthy's site at
http://www.murthy.com/UDbrin7y.html which states:
Sections 106(a) and (b) of AC21 set forth the following two requirements for such extensions: first, a labor certification application must have been filed for the person at least one year prior; and, second, either the I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) must also have been filed and be pending or approved, or else the I-485 must be pending. In those cases that do not require the filing of a labor certification, like the national interest waiver cases, the I-140 must have been filed a year prior and the I-140 or the I-485 must be pending.
You can also see:
http://www.immihelp.com which states:
Effective October 17, 2000, The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act(AC21), permits H-1B non-immigrants to obtain an extension of H-1B status beyond 6-year maximum period, when:
- the H-1B non-immigrant is the beneficiary of an employment based (EB) immigrant petition (I-140) or an application for Adjustment of Status ; and
- 365 days or more have passed since the filing of a labor certification application, Form ETA -750, that is required for the alien to get employment based greencard, or 365 days or more have passed since the filing of the EB immigrant petition(I-140).
Our host, Rajiv Khanna, at
http://www.immigration.com/faq/hvisa.html#419 states:
Q192 Does the law permit extensions beyond 6 years for H-1?
A192 Yes. Indefinite H-1 extensions in one-year increments can be obtained, if the I-140 is pending or approved (oe I-485 is pending) and the green card process was started a year ago. The GC process is started for:
- Labor Certification based cases; when the labor certification is officially filed with the local office (SESA); and
-EB-1 and National Interest Waiver cases; when the I-140 is officially filed withe INS.
or,
you can believe me. See
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6281&highlight=AC21+extension
This has been reiterated many times by many different people over the past year or so but nobody wants to believe it.
