Need advice from immigration Gurus
My current company filed for a H1-B EOS application in March 2002 CSC requesting H-1 visa till 2004. CSC issued a RFE letter indicating that my 6 year limit on my visa status is going to be reached soon, therefore on what basis should the visa be extended till 2004. However, the name of the beneficiary and the start dates for H-1 status were wrong i.e. though the case number mentioned in RFE letter matched with the receipt number, the letter have a different name and the start date.
In the last six years, I switched from a H-1 to a F-1 visa and then from a F-1 to a H-1. It took more than 15 months (yes no typo) to get my I-539 (change of status) application approved from CSC. During that time (15 months), I maintained full-time status, did not work ( on campus nor off-campus), and took at least the minimum number of course required (9 units). Once the F-1 application was approved I did a CPT for a company B. Finally, company B filed for F-1 to H-1 transfer which itself took 4 months. Company B also filed a Labor Certification application.
Q1: Shouldn't the time I was working for company B while on F-1 (via CPT), not count towards 6-years H-1 limit.
Q2: What about the time I was waiting for approval on my F-1 application (15 months). Is the time needs to be counted as H-1 or a decision on F-1 application is retroactive and applies from the date of filing the application and not from the date or approval of the I-539 application. (recapturing 15 months would help me a lot)
Q3: It has been more than 365 days since company B filed a labor application. I have a very strong case for NIW, can I file for NIW and apply for 7th year extension, even though I am not working for company B any more.
Q4: I have more than 6 months of vacation time accumulated over last 6 years, including a block of 4 months of time between two jobs. I have heard recapturing vacation time is difficult but is the probability better if the vacation time is between jobs.
Thanks in advance for your help.
