H1 Expired in Oct 2010 [worked 1 yr in USA] - Ext Info Required

USA H1B Visa
1

Hi ,
After completing masters in USA, I got my H1 in Oct 2007 and I worked in USA till Sep 2008 [i.e 1 year] and returned to INDIA for family emergency. My H1 got expired in Sep 2010.
I am planning to apply for 2013 H1 -quota.

1) Does it come under Re-Issue/Reopen[out of quota] for my old H1, as I utilized only 1 year of given 6 years OR come under regular fresh H1 quota ?
2) Is there any rule that we need to apply for re-issue/re-open of H1 only within 6 years from H1 start period  [ in my case from OCT 2007 to OCT 2013]..?  ....(OR)  we can apply re-issue even after 6 years 




Your response would be of great help for me .

Thanks in Advance,
2

  1. You can go for out of cap H-1 (cap-exempt H-1).

  2. Usually, it should have been approved within the last 6 years, which gives you time until Oct 2013. After that, your employer can still try but it will be officer’s discretion.

3

Thanks a lot for the info Saurabh. …Going further I have two more questions regarding the H1 Master Cap

  1. As I hold a valid MS degree from USA[2007 graduated] , am I eligible to apply for H1 under Masters Cap ?
  2. If the 20k masters cap is not filled completely…do they merge the remaining cap with the General quota…OR …just it will be remain for Masters only ?

Thanks,
rajadsrr

4
  1. You are cap-exempt. As these are not subject to cap, you don’t need to go w/ Masters or General cap. If you don’t w/ cap-exempt petition, then you can have it filed under Masters degree cap.
  2. The overspill from Masters cap will go into general cap. So if 30K Masters cap petitions are received, they will select 20K and put remaining 10K in general cap. Then random selection of all general cap will be done (if the count is over 65K).
5

Thanks for ur valuable reply Saurabh…:slight_smile: …As I used one year of H1 [oct 2007 - 0ct 2008]…If I apply now for cap-exempt , do I get remaning 5 years of H1 … OR …6 years of H1 [ as I am out of USA for more than 1 year] ?