My H1b Petition is going to expire...

[viveksoniji]

Hi All,

I had visa interview on 9th Nov 2011 and due to lack of documents i got H1B visa 221 g blue refusal form. After that on 20th Dec 2011 i have submitted my H1B visa 221G refusal form at VFS Mumbai with all required documents.

After that Two US consulate officers visited our office location on 9th Feb 2012. And sinc then I didn’t get any information or any update from US consulate.

Here my concern is my petition is valid for 1 year and is going to expire on 1st Oct 2012.
Please let me know in case if i wont get any info on visa before expired data then what i have to do. Do i again file the petition or renew the petition? Please give me scenarios of expiring petition before visa approval.

Thanks
Vivek

[kabkaba]

Your employer (same or different), can file a cap-exempt petition for you at any time. After it is approved, you will need to apply for Visa like before. You will need to mention the 221g as denial in your application form at that time. After Visa is issued, you can travel to US and work for the sponsoring employer.

[viveksoniji]

Thanks a lot for the quick suggestions.

do you know in my case situation, how much time US consulate will take ?

[kabkaba]

It is completely unpredictable.
Since, you mentioned that some US Gov. agents visited your employer, there are two possibilities.
1. It may be a routine USCIS check. If that is the case, your case may still be with the consulate and the Consulate may still issue the Visa, but timeframe is unpredictable.
2. It is possible that the Consulate sent your petition back to USCIS and asked them to revoke it. USCIS may have contacted your employer asking why they should not revoke it. If they are satisfied with your employer's response, they may re-affirm the petition. If that happens, you can take the re-affirmed petition back to the Consulate and they may issue you the Visa. Even then this is less useful because the petition is close to expiry anyway.

Considering the above, you can get your employer (same or different) to file a new cap-exempt petition for you.

[viveksoniji]

thank you for your response.

In your response you have mention "cap-exempt petition ". what does it means?
Is it different from normal petition ? if yes then what are the terms to go for it ? Please suggest.

[kabkaba]

It just means that you are counted under annual cap and don't have to go through annual cap again. (Until you spend 6 years in the US in H1/L1 status).

[viveksoniji]

thank you for useful information....