kejoseph

I will be completing my 6 years on the 1st of April 2002. I have the following questions
regarding the extension of my stay in the USA beyond 6 years

1. During my past 5 years I had taken a couple of short vacations ( around 1 month, 2
months and then again 2/3 months). When I file for a Visa extension ( my current H1B
visa is going to expire in August ) will this period count for the 6 year cycle or
will it give me 4-5 extra months beyond the 6 years ?
2. I applied for the Green Card (Labour stage )in December of 2000, which is more than
365 days from my 6 year limit. According to provisions in the new law, can I stay
after 6 years ? Or is the 365 period valid only after the I-140 application ? I will
be very thankful if you could answer these questions for me. Most of the sites seem
to have conflicting information regarding these issues and hence these questions.

Kevin.

Ingo

>
> I will be completing my 6 years on the 1st of April 2002. I have the following
> questions regarding the extension of my stay in the USA beyond 6 years
>
> 1. During my past 5 years I had taken a couple of short vacations ( around 1 month, 2
> months and then again 2/3 months). When I file for a Visa extension ( my current H1B
> visa is going to expire in August ) will this period count for the 6 year cycle or
> will it give me 4-5 extra months beyond the 6 years ?

It will count towards the six years.

> 2. I applied for the Green Card (Labour stage )in December of 2000, which is more than
> 365 days from my 6 year limit. According to provisions in the new law, can I stay
> after 6 years ? Or is the 365 period valid only after the I-140 application ?

You should be doing fine. However, you cannot just stay in the US - you will have to
explicitly file for an extension of your H-1B. You can get it extended in increments
of one year.

> I will be very thankful if you could answer these questions for me. Most of the sites
> seem to have conflicting information regarding these issues and hence these questions.

Ingo

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. For reliable advice, please consult with a
professional immigration attorney.

For further information, check the following frequently-requested links.

For many questions, you may find answers at http://travel.state.gov/visa_services.html
(Department of State)

or http://ins.usdoj.gov (INS).

For consular policies and visa reciprocity fees, find your consulate in
http://travel.state.gov/links.html

For DOL Faxback status information: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/

For information on affidavit of support for marriage to US citizens (I-864), go to
http://travel.state.gov/i864gen.html and http://travel.state.gov/checklist.html

For information on entering the US as a K-1: http://www.k1poelist.com/

For poverty levels, see http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/00poverty.htm

For information on H/L/O/P visa extensions at Dept. of State in St. Louis, MO, see
http://travel.state.gov/revals.html

For non-official information, check:

(When using these sites, and any Web sites, please watch out for privacy, as I do not know
all site operators.)

http://www.visalaw.com http://www.shusterman.com http://www.immigration.com
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall http://www.murthy.com/ http://www.getusavisa.com
http://greencard-lottery.virtualave.net/ http://www.jcvisa.com (H-1B)
http://www.h1bresources.com (marriage and fiancee) http://www.kamya.com/misc/ (marriage
and fiancee) http://www2.apex.net/users/thehydes http://www.formshome.com
http://www.workpermit.com

This is not an endorsement of any of these Web sites. I am not affiliated with any of the
Web site owners and do not receive nor accept payment in return for listing them, and
typically don't even know them.

(if believe you have a good immigration-related Web site and want your Web site listed
here, please e-mail me).

Sylvia Ottemoeller

> I will be completing my 6 years on the 1st of April 2002. I have the following
> questions regarding the extension of my stay in the USA beyond 6 years
>
> 1. During my past 5 years I had taken a couple of short vacations ( around 1 month, 2
> months and then again 2/3 months). When I file for a Visa extension ( my current
> H1B visa is going to expire in August ) will this period count for the 6 year cycle
> or will it give me 4-5 extra months beyond the 6 years ?
> 2. I applied for the Green Card (Labour stage )in December of 2000, which is more than
> 365 days from my 6 year limit. According to provisions in the new law, can I stay
> after 6 years ? Or is the 365 period valid only after the I-140 application ?

Ingo answered everything except for this small point. The labor certification application,
if there is one, must have been filed at least one year prior to the end of the 6 years of
H-1B status. The I-140 must have been *filed.* I assume the I-140 could have been filed
one day before the H expiration.

If the the I-140 is labor cert-exempt, then it must have been filed at least one year
before the H expiration.