H-1B beyond 6 years

H-1B beyond 6 years Scenario 1 Effective October 17, 2000, The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act(AC21), enables H-1B non-immigrants with approved I-140 petitions who are unable to file Adjustment of Status because of per-country limits, to be eligible for extend their H-1B non-immigrant status until their application for adjustment of status has been adjudicated(approved or denied). You can extend your H-1B status even beyond maximum 6 years of authorized stay, provided you have an employment based greencard petition filed on your behalf in an either EB1, EB2 or EB3 categories and you are not eligible to file your Adjustment of Status application only because you are from a country for which priority date is not current, which is usually the case with applicants from India or China.

Please note that H-1B extension given for the above listed reason would be made in increments of 3 years.

The status of a dependent of an H-1B non-immigrant is derivative of and linked to the status of the principal H-1B non-immigrant. Therefore, dependents are eligible for H-4 status upon filing of an H-1B petition on behalf of the principal alien and the filing of a Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status with the filing fee and all necessary supporting documentation for the dependent. Dependents should be advised to file the Form I-539 concurrently, whenever possible, with the H-1B petition filed on behalf of the principal H-1B non-immigrant.

Scenario 2
Effective October 17, 2000, The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act(AC21), permits H-1B non-immigrants to obtain an extension of H-1B status beyond 6-year maximum period, when
the H-1B non-immigrant is the beneficiary of an employment based (EB) immigrant petition (I-140) or an application for Adjustment of Status ; and
365 days or more have passed since the filing of a labor certification application, Form ETA -750, that is required for the alien to get employment based greencard, or 365 days or more have passed since the filing of the EB immigrant petition(I-140).
H-1B non-immigrant in above mentioned scenario can get extensions of H-1B non-immigrant visa status in increments of 1 year at a time, until a final decision is made on the H-1B non-immigrant's greencard.

New According to the new law passed on November 2, 2002; "21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act" (H.R. 2215), H-1B non-immigrant can extend H-1B 1 year at a time, even if his labor in not approved but pending for 1 year or more. It is not necessary that it should be approved.

Note that the adjustment application, labor certification, or visa petition need not necessarily have been pending for a year to obtain this benefit. The only requirement is that 365 days have passed since filing of the labor certification or immigrant visa petition.

In order for an H-1B non-immigrant to receive an extension of stay beyond the maximum 6-year limit, a petitioner must file a Form I-129 on behalf of the non-immigrant beneficiary. The petitioner may be either the beneficiary's current employer or a new employer. Usual rules and fees of filing an H-1B petitions apply.

The status of a dependent of an H-1B non-immigrant is derivative of and linked to the status of the principal H-1B non-immigrant. Therefore, dependents are eligible for H-4 status upon filing of an H-1B petition on behalf of the principal alien, and the filing of a Form I-539 with filing fee and all necessary supporting documentation for the dependent. Dependents should be advised to file the Form I-539 concurrently, whenever possible, with the H-1B petition filed on behalf of the principal H-1B non-immigrant. Read Experiences