H1b petition expiry in Sept 2011

[madli]

Hello Folks,

My husband has H1B petition that was approved in 2008. It is valid till Sept. 2011. This petition was filed by the previous employer. He is joining a new firm in May 2011 and they are ready to transfer it send and him to US on H1b.
-My question is if the petition expires in Sept. 2011,he can still get it stamped anytime before expiry?
- Will he be able to stay in US after visa stamping only till the petition expires? Is the extension period taken care of by the employer,we dont need to come to India?
- Since there was a gap of 2+ yrs between petition approval and Visa stamping,will there be a problem getting the Visa.

Thanks
Mils

[txh1b]

Once the new employer transfers the H1b, the validity date for that petition will be different and not expiring in Sep 2011 based on the proposed employment period by that employer. You can use the approved petition then to apply for the visa stamp. You should not use the previous employer's petition.

Stay in US depends on the I-94 granted at the POE which is based on the I797 approval perios and not the visa. Visa is just an entry document. Meaning if a visa expires 9/1 and the petition expires 12/1, if the person enters 8/1, I-94 is granted till 12/1 (sometimes plus 10 days).

No issues with the petition and visa stamp delay.

[rkalsulkar]

Is there anything such as Petition Validity Date? Can a petition expire after approval if stamping has never taken place and none of the years from 6 years CAP has been used?

I was told in some other post that the there is nothing as such as petition expiry or validity. Petition is always valid unless 6 years CAP has not been exhausted.

Can anyone clarify? Thank you.

[madli]

Hey Txh1b ..Thank you very much..That was a great help!

[shervin143]

Look at the approval notice (I-797). You will see an expiry (end) date there. H1B CAP is valid for 6 year, not the petition. Meaning, any employer can use the same CAP to file an H1B petition and keep extending it until you reach 6 years. You can also transfer to another employer using the same CAP. Only benefit here is that you don't have to go through the quota again until you reach the 6 year limit.

Is there anything such as Petition Validity Date? Can a petition expire after approval if stamping has never taken place and none of the years from 6 years CAP has been used?

I was told in some other post that the there is nothing as such as petition expiry or validity. Petition is always valid unless 6 years CAP has not been exhausted.

Can anyone clarify? Thank you.

[kabkaba]

Look at the approval notice (I-797). You will see an expiry (end) date there. H1B CAP is valid for 6 year, not the petition. Meaning, any employer can use the same CAP to file an H1B petition and keep extending it until you reach 6 years. You can also transfer to another employer using the same CAP. Only benefit here is that you don't have to go through the quota again until you reach the 6 year limit.

To add to this, only the time spent in the US in H1 (or L1) status counts against 6 years.

[rkalsulkar]

I have an H1B petition which was approved back in Year 2006. It has expired now. I have not used a single year out of that CAP. So is that petition of any help now if some other employer is ready to file a new H1 for me?

[kabkaba]

Yes, in principle the new employer can utilize that cap number to request immediate start date.

[rkalsulkar]

Then what does the Petition Expiry Date actually signifies?

[shervin143]

You cannot use that petition anymore because it has already expired. Meaning, you cannot use that petition to get visa stamping and you cannot use that petition to travel to U.S. You need a valid petition to do these. Have you heard of a thing called "H1B CAP" ("quota in other term)? A person who never had an H1B petition need to file his/her first petition when the CAP opens up (in the month of April) and upon approval can start working only from Oct 1st. Each CAP is valid for 6 years (irrespective of petition expiry date). So when the petitions get expires, the employer can keep filing the extension until the 6 years are reached by using the same CAP number. The same holds good for transfer of H1B to a different employer as well.

Since you are already CAP counted previously, any employer can file a new petition using the same CAP and request an immediate start date. The employer doesn't need to wait until April to file the petition for you and you don't have to wait until Oct 1st to start working. That is the benefit of having a H1B CAP in which all 6 years are not utilized.

Then what does the Petition Expiry Date actually signifies?

[rkalsulkar]

So it doesn't really matter when the old petition was filed & approved? which is 5 years back in my case.
One of the job consultants told me; chances are high that USCIS may not approve new H1 under this old CAP as this case is too old (approved way back in yr 2006).
Do you really feel that my current approved petition being too old is a risk?

[shervin143]

That should not be an issue.

The CAP is still open and your new employer can file a fresh petition. Unless you are trying to file it in premium, a fresh petition will work just fine. It takes anywhere between 2-3 months to get the approval by normal process and then you might need another month to get the visa stamped.

So it doesn't really matter when the old petition was filed & approved? which is 5 years back in my case.
One of the job consultants told me; chances are high that USCIS may not approve new H1 under this old CAP as this case is too old (approved way back in yr 2006).
Do you really feel that my current approved petition being too old is a risk?

[rkalsulkar]

so does that mean that my old petition is not good enough to fetch me an immediate start date for my work; because it is too old?

[shervin143]

Why are keep asking the same question again and again. I clearly said that is NOT an issue.

so does that mean that my old petition is not good enough to fetch me an immediate start date for my work; because it is too old?

[ush1]

Similar case

Why are keep asking the same question again and again. I clearly said that is NOT an issue.

Hi All,

I have a similar question :

[1]
I had an approved H1b petition through Company A valid from 2001-2004.
In 2003 i worked in US on this petition for 6 months and exited US in 2003 itself. This petition expired in 2004.
[2]
In March 2007 i re-entered US through Company A again BUT on L1.
[3]
In April 2009 , while i was in US , Company B filed for H1b counted in the CAP and got approved, I shifted to H1b status from Oct 1st 2009.
[4]
I transfered my H1 to Company C in May, 2012, and will exit US on March 2013. The H1 petition through C will expire in 2013.

Say, [2]+[3]+[4] will be short of 6 yrs by only 3 weeks.

In April, 2014 :
-can I use the H1 in [1] to re-enter US ? If Yes, how much validity will it have ?
-can I use the H1 in [4] to re-enter US ? If Yes, how much validity will it have ?

Thank &Best Regards