Immigration: Bad news for H-1B h

C

canus_immi

Volunteer Moderator
Immigration: Bad news for H-1B holders

The news from the US is not so good this time: H-1B professionals who had hoped to spend a seventh year on their temporary skilled worker visas may have to do a rethink.

A clarification from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service states that an H-1B visa holder may file for a seventh year extension only if the labour certification application, on the basis of which the visa will be issued, has been pending for a year.

The requirement for a pending application will mean inconvenience for those applying and eligible for an extension. At present, an applicant can file an extension request up to six months before the expiry of the six years (the maximum period allowed on the visa).

However, as per the USCIS memo, the H-1B visa holder can now apply for the extension only after the labour certification has been pending for a year. In effect, this means that the labour certification application will have to be filed at the end of the fifth year to be eligible to be considered for a seventh year extension.



As per law, it would seem that there is no requirement for the labour certification application to be pending for more than 365 days.

The American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act, allows an H-1B visa holder to a seventh year extension, provided the labour certification application or an I-140 petition was 365 days prior to the sixth year.

It would seem that the USCIS had accepted that there was no need for the certification application to be pending for more than 365 days — a position it has since reversed.
 
h1 b approved

My 7 th year extension was approved at 7 pm est today no change in lud filed on 6-28-04?
 
Times of India regularly publish some US immigration article. This is just one in that series. I don't see any amendment to the law or new memo, they are discussing about the same old law. Did I miss any fine print???????
 
TOI is really confusing readers about US Immigration as it keeps publishing old immigration policies just to get more number of hits from Indians who are interested to migrate to US. This law which we are talking has not changed and I don't see any reason to panic as this law came into effect almost 2 years back if I remember right and lot of people have made use of it. So don't panic and try to apply for Labor before the expiration of 5 years on your H1 and you will be fine. Below I am pasting one of the concerns raised regarding the above issue in Murthy.com chat last month and below is her reply.
Chat User : If H1B has only 11 months remaining, can one file for the GC, then take 3 months vacation in between so that, effectively, H-1 goes to 14 months and use 7th-year extension? Thanks.

Attorney Murthy : Yes, we have done that before for some people, and it is a good strategy that should work out in most cases. The point is that one should, preferably, be outside the U.S. for the 3 months, not get paid by the employer, and argue that the time outside the U.S. was "meaningfully interruptive" to take advantage of the strict USCIS interpretation. Sometimes, one can succeed without going through these additional steps, but, to be safe, it is best to follow the USCIS guidelines to recapture the entire time abroad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top