H1B 6th year/stay on h4 is possible?

[ssmnaidu]

Hi All,

My H1B will expire soon (6 yrs consumed in USA) and I have to travel back to India. As usual i have to stay in India for next one year before I apply for fresh H1B.

However i have option to stay in US on H4 since my wife is on H1B. My question is

1) If i stay in US for next one year on H4, am i eligible to apply for fresh H1B again in US itself under fresh quota or is it mandatory and must to go and stay only in India for one year and then apply for fresh H1B from India?

2) Also, is it advisable to visit USA on visitor visa incase if H4 is not counted towards one year gap (as said in above)?

Please let me know.

Thanks
Subra

[raghvi]

Hi All,

My H1B will expire soon (6 yrs consumed in USA) and I have to travel back to India. As usual i have to stay in India for next one year before I apply for fresh H1B.

However i have option to stay in US on H4 since my wife is on H1B. My question is

1) If i stay in US for next one year on H4, am i eligible to apply for fresh H1B again in US itself under fresh quota or is it mandatory and must to go and stay only in India for one year and then apply for fresh H1B from India?

2) Also, is it advisable to visit USA on visitor visa incase if H4 is not counted towards one year gap (as said in above)?

Please let me know.

Thanks
Subra

Have all the 6 Years been spent physically in US? If not you may be able to recapture the period you might have spent outside US during the last 6 Years.
But if you have spent the entire 6 years physically in US then yes you need to spend 1 Fully Year outside US in order to be eligible for a fresh 6 Year H1.

The One year stay has to be outside US. Advisable to completely stay away from US and not enter US even for small number of days, those days when you stay in US during the clock reset period will not be counted towards the 1 Year and you would also have to provide additional proofs surrounding the days of travel in and out of US.

One more thing to consider is that fresh H1 petition has to be filed after completion of 1 Full Year outside US. So assuming your 6 Years completes in Feb 2013, then you cant file H1 in 2013 Cap to travel in Feb 2014 (even if your 1 Year stay outside US finishes in Feb 2014), you can file fresh H1 only in April 2014 and if approved, the earliest you would be able to travel into US on that H1 is in Oct 2014.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[ssmnaidu]

thanks for the quick response and this helps me.

Regards
Subra