Should I go on H1b or go on F1

USA H1B Visa
1

I have a bit complicated case please bare with me.
I had H1B petition and it expired on oct 2011. It was never stamped.
However I traveled to USA on L1b and stayed there between August 2009 to Sept 2013.

Then my company applied for my H1B under cap exempt in Feb 2013.

Now I am planning to join a MBA in USA in 2014.

1. If I do not get my H1B Cap exempt stamped and travel to USA on F1. Then Can I use the H1B petition(That was applied in Feb 2013 ) to apply for cap exempt after completing my MBA in 2016 and utilizing OPT 2017. And in case the answer is YES how long the H1B visa duration will be ?

2. If I travel to USA on H1B now and then transfer the status to F1 in 2014. Then can I apply for H1B in 2017 . Considering that I have spent 3(L1b Aug 2009-Sept 2012)+1(H1B May 2013-May 2014)+2(F1 June 2014- June 2016)+1(OPT June 2016- June 2017) = 7 Years in USA
Without a complete year gap outside usa
2

  1. Usually one can go for cap-exempt petition as long as they have had H-1 approval in the past 6 years. So if you want to apply for cap-exempt H-1 in 2017, it should have been approved post 2011. Also, this is something 3-4 years out and policies/rules can change. If you go cap-exempt route, then you will get H-1 term of 6 years minus time already spent inside US on L-1 and H-1.

  2. Only the time spent on L-1 and H-1 is counted. F-1 time is not counted. Based on current rules, this will improve your chances of getting cap-exempt H-1 in 2017 as your H-1 approval will become within 6 years of 2017.