Spouse using H-1B extension for 7th yr

G

gmango

New Member
To All:

Both my wife and I have separate H-1B that's expiring (6th yr) in April,06 and May,06 respectively. I have an LC pending dated Sep, 04 and just filed a PERM in late May.

Since my wife does have a Green Card application, we were told to use my LCA to extend both our H-1B for 7th year in Sep, 05 (after 365 days into LCA).

The latest AC-21 dated May 12,05 seems to indicate otherwise. It Section 2, Question 9: It appears my spouse has to have her own pending LCA for 365 days in order to qualify for an extension? Is this a new interpretation of AC-21?

Any advise or help is appreciated!
 
gmango said:
To All:

Both my wife and I have separate H-1B that's expiring (6th yr) in April,06 and May,06 respectively. I have an LC pending dated Sep, 04 and just filed a PERM in late May.

Since my wife does have a Green Card application, we were told to use my LCA to extend both our H-1B for 7th year in Sep, 05 (after 365 days into LCA).

The latest AC-21 dated May 12,05 seems to indicate otherwise. It Section 2, Question 9: It appears my spouse has to have her own pending LCA for 365 days in order to qualify for an extension? Is this a new interpretation of AC-21?

Any advise or help is appreciated!
Click to expand...

Bad luck for your wife. See the latest memoraendum.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The memo contains some bad news for dependents of persons in H-1B status. Although they may obtain 7th year H-4s, they cannot obtain 7th year extensions as H-1Bs unless they "independently" qualify for such. (Editor's note: This is an unfortunate interpretation. If both spouses are in H-1B status, it is unnecessary for both of them to apply for labor certification and I-140s in order to achieve permanent residence since they may either "accompany" or "follow-to-join" the principal. This interpretation may result in the employers of both spouses submitting labor certifications and I-140s, and thus, unnecessarily clogging the Labor Department and/or the CIS with unnecessary applications and petitions.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top