Filing new H1B after 6 years on existing H1B

[amitava]

Hi,

I am currently on F1 visa and have already spent 6 years on H1B prior to joining school. I am planning to leave the country for more than 365 days so that my employer can apply for a new H1b.

I wanted to know that if I leave U.S. on 1st Aug 2014, can my employer file for my H1B in April 2015 since they are effective starting Oct 2015? Or do I need to spend 365 days outside of US before the filing date (April 2015).

Please advise.

[raghvi]

Hi,

I am currently on F1 visa and have already spent 6 years on H1B prior to joining school. I am planning to leave the country for more than 365 days so that my employer can apply for a new H1b.

I wanted to know that if I leave U.S. on 1st Aug 2014, can my employer file for my H1B in April 2015 since they are effective starting Oct 2015? Or do I need to spend 365 days outside of US before the filing date (April 2015).

Please advise.

No. The application should be after completion of 1 Year, so H1 cap has to be applied after 01-Aug-2015. The issue is that, seeing the recent trends, its highly unlikely that the H1 cap would be open till 01-Aug-2015.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[amitava]

Thanks @ raghvi