H1 already extended before expiration

[Ferdie H]

I have a unique situation. Hopefully someone can help.

I'm currently on an H1B and my first round of H1B will expire in Dec 2003. About a month ago I accepted a job offer from a different company, and they did a H1B transfer.

I just received the approval notice a couple of days ago (premium processing). However, it seems that instead of only transferring my H1B to the new company, INS was also extending it. So the approval notice says it's valid from 1/28/03 - 1/27/06.

Does this mean I lost my last year on the first 3-yr round of my H1B? Will I be able to "recapture" that one year in 2006 if I haven't got my greencard yet?

Every little suggestion helps.

Thanks.

 

[Raju595]

From the INS's perspective, there is nothing like transfer. It is always a new H1B approval. We only call it with the name transfer, which means you get I-94 stub with the approval.

I am assuming that, when you said your first round of H1 you meant the first 3 years.

Then you need not worry about , how the new H1B is approved.
The Notice of approval will always state the date it was approved,
and not the, expiry date of your old H1.

You do not have to worry about loosing any time.

For counting the total quota of 6 years, the calculation is as following:

The date on which you first entered US on your H1B + 6 years.

Raju