Recapture and Extension Process

[stuckinvisa]

I am in US in L1B visa which is maxing out on 1/27/2016. My company filed a L to H conversion this year and that fortunately got picked up in the lottery this year and got approved. USCIS sent me a new I-94 starting 1/10/2015 till 1/27/2017. That will conclude my 6 years in US.

Question:

Now if I go outside of US around October 2015 ,stay outside of US for an year (more than 365 days) and come back around October 2016 will my tenure clock be reset? That means can I ask for my extension of stay in US for another 3 years like a new H1B? Or I have to leave once my recapture period is over?

Please advise.

[raghvi]

I am in US in L1B visa which is maxing out on 1/27/2016. My company filed a L to H conversion this year and that fortunately got picked up in the lottery this year and got approved. USCIS sent me a new I-94 starting 1/10/2015 till 1/27/2017. That will conclude my 6 years in US.

Question:

Now if I go outside of US around October 2015 ,stay outside of US for an year (more than 365 days) and come back around October 2016 will my tenure clock be reset? That means can I ask for my extension of stay in US for another 3 years like a new H1B? Or I have to leave once my recapture period is over?

Please advise.

If you go outside in 2015, stay out for a year and come back Oct 2016 on the same H1 petition your clock would not be reset. In order to reset the clock you need to be part of a fresh cap applied after staying out of US for 1 Year. Why not ask employer to get GC started?

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[stuckinvisa]

If you go outside in 2015, stay out for a year and come back Oct 2016 on the same H1 petition your clock would not be reset. In order to reset the clock you need to be part of a fresh cap applied after staying out of US for 1 Year. Why not ask employer to get GC started?

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thanks a lot Raghvi for this reply. This is really helpful.Is there any USCIS rule book or any reference document regarding this? Looks like I need to convince my management on this.

[raghvi]

Thanks a lot Raghvi for this reply. This is really helpful.Is there any USCIS rule book or any reference document regarding this? Looks like I need to convince my management on this.

There are multiple rules and laws that would be applied in your case . But if you interested, http://www.uscis.gov/iframe/ilink/do.../SLB/8cfr.html might be a good place to start with.

This is my opinion not legal advice.