the Seventh year extension of H-1B

Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 5:46 PM

*** H-1B NEWSLETTER ***

Get the Facts on H-1B at
www.ZaZona.com

Most people, myself included, have always assumed that H-1B visas last
for 3
years with a one time 3 year extension. All of that is true but there is
also the 7th year extension. If a company is sponsoring the H-1B for
permanent residency but the Green Card hasn't been processed, the H-1B
can
be extended in one year increments indefinitely.

>>> In other words, this new loophole in the law effectively changes the
H-1B from a temporary visa to a permanent. Perhaps we should stop
calling
this visa a nonimmigrant work visa and start calling it an immigrant
work
visa because that is what it has become.

http://shusterman.com/h1bfaqins.html
Q14: What benefits are available under AC21 to aliens with Immigrant
petitions/adjustment applications?

A14: First, § 104 of AC21 lifts the per-country limits on
employment-based
immigrant visa numbers if the total number of visas available during a
calendar quarter exceeds the number used. The Department of State is
charged
with issuance of these visas and maintenance of priority dates and
availability. This issue will not be addressed in INS regulations.

Where the country caps delay an alien's immigration notwithstanding this
provision, AC21 also provides for an extension of H-1B status until the
alien's adjustment of status application can be processed and a decision
made.

Finally, AC21 gives extensions of H-1B status in one-year increments to
H-1B
aliens who have an employment-based immigrant visa petition or
application
for adjustment of status pending if It has been more than 365 days since
the
visa petition or the labor certification application has been filed.
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.

You may have to paste this address together but I highly recommend going
to
this site. It has summaries of some of the major H-1B loopholes:
http://www.shawpittman.com/rfp.nsf/36a6ba82b468bb3085256b6d007eb8e8/bcbd6d02
253d2df9852569980055c7a9/$FILE/AC21.pdf
Extension of H-1B Status in Case of Lengthy Residency Processing
* IF 365 days or more have passed since
the filing of the original labor certification
or I-140, any H-1B worker with a pending
EB-based I-140 can obtain H-1B
extensions beyond the 6th year, in oneyear
increments until a "final decision" is
reached in the residency case.

Back to archives