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Visa Situation
A brief history about me
I came to the US to work at a government research lab under a J1 visa as an intern in 2015 while doing my undergrad in India. After completing my undergrad, I was offered a position under a J1-visa again at the same place with a contract for
a) 6 months from Aug 2016 till Feb 2017 and then
b) 1 year from May 2017 till May 2018.
Since I was working on a J1 visa with them, I was eligible for the ?two year home residency requirement?. I applied for the waiver for the same which was granted to me on March 11th 2018. So, I no longer have to go back to my home country before applying for a H1B visa and I can?t extend my current J1 visa as well.
My questions
1. The lab has offered to increase my contract for another 1 year i.e. till May 2019. They will have to apply for an H1B visa since I can?t extend my current J1 Visa due to the waiver. Now, my question is that
a) Will the H1B visa that they apply for be valid for just that 1 year or a longer duration?
b) Can I look for another job during that period and if I do get an offer, would it be easier for the other company to just transfer my H1B?
c) Since this is a government lab, is there any restriction on the H1B visa that they?d offer which won?t allow me to shift to a product company like Google / ******** for example?
2. I also intend on doing a masters program.
Let?s say, if I apply for masters programs for Fall 2019 i.e. I work with the lab till May 2019 under the H1B and then transfer to a F1 visa to go to school.
Once I?m done with my program, will my previous H1B still be valid? Or will the next company that I work for, have to issue me a new H1B visa and I?d have to go through the lottery system again?
Thank you so much for the help
A brief history about me
I came to the US to work at a government research lab under a J1 visa as an intern in 2015 while doing my undergrad in India. After completing my undergrad, I was offered a position under a J1-visa again at the same place with a contract for
a) 6 months from Aug 2016 till Feb 2017 and then
b) 1 year from May 2017 till May 2018.
Since I was working on a J1 visa with them, I was eligible for the ?two year home residency requirement?. I applied for the waiver for the same which was granted to me on March 11th 2018. So, I no longer have to go back to my home country before applying for a H1B visa and I can?t extend my current J1 visa as well.
My questions
1. The lab has offered to increase my contract for another 1 year i.e. till May 2019. They will have to apply for an H1B visa since I can?t extend my current J1 Visa due to the waiver. Now, my question is that
a) Will the H1B visa that they apply for be valid for just that 1 year or a longer duration?
b) Can I look for another job during that period and if I do get an offer, would it be easier for the other company to just transfer my H1B?
c) Since this is a government lab, is there any restriction on the H1B visa that they?d offer which won?t allow me to shift to a product company like Google / ******** for example?
2. I also intend on doing a masters program.
Let?s say, if I apply for masters programs for Fall 2019 i.e. I work with the lab till May 2019 under the H1B and then transfer to a F1 visa to go to school.
Once I?m done with my program, will my previous H1B still be valid? Or will the next company that I work for, have to issue me a new H1B visa and I?d have to go through the lottery system again?
Thank you so much for the help
