[abhimanyu_singh]

Someone told me that if you get a Mexico Visa stamped on your passport, getting an H1B after that becomes even more difficult.

Guys any idea if this is a mere rumour or actually happens?

My wife has been asked to come over to Mexico at client site. I'm really confused at this point. Safety and security is another issue altogether. Any info is appreciated.

[athanedar]

Originally Posted by abhimanyu_singh

Someone told me that if you get a Mexico Visa stamped on your passport, getting an H1B after that becomes even more difficult.

Guys any idea if this is a mere rumour or actually happens?

My wife has been asked to come over to Mexico at client site. I'm really confused at this point. Safety and security is another issue altogether. Any info is appreciated.

That is a baseless rumour. There is no dependency of mexico visa and H1B.
Infact many of my friends have traveled to mexico US consulate to get their visa restamped after extension.

[msvg]

One quick question folks :if someone with h1 has resigned in US and come back to India is his visa still valid for working with indian or US company's ?
Read somewhere that it can renewed by new employer and applied for transfer / extension it does not require H1 cap . Also what are the chances of getting a job for immediate or near future travel to US for such candidate ?Area of expertise is Software Testing in Retail and Banking domain.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by msvg

One quick question folks :if someone with h1 has resigned in US and come back to India is his visa still valid for working with indian or US company's ?
Read somewhere that it can renewed by new employer and applied for transfer / extension it does not require H1 cap .

Most of the companies which processed the H1 will cancel it upon resigning. If H1 was applied by a consultancy then it might allow the visa to still stand and not cancel it. New employer can apply for transfer/extension only if they take care of all the fees for doing so and also if the old employer agrees to it.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by msvg

One quick question folks :if someone with h1 has resigned in US and come back to India is his visa still valid for working with indian or US company's ?
Read somewhere that it can renewed by new employer and applied for transfer / extension it does not require H1 cap . Also what are the chances of getting a job for immediate or near future travel to US for such candidate ?Area of expertise is Software Testing in Retail and Banking domain.

You read it right. The visa can be transferred to a new employer, but for this to happen the new employer should be interested in his skill sets, his experience and the length of period on the visa. For well qualified candidate, some of them bear the visa transfer fees and the transfer can happen without the involvement/know of the old employer.

[pdma]

Originally Posted by abhimanyu_singh

Someone told me that if you get a Mexico Visa stamped on your passport, getting an H1B after that becomes even more difficult.

Hello abhimanyu,

Iam not sure if you are still looking for information on this topic , however I felt that it is worth posting anyway for the benefit of others.

My passport has 3 Visa's for Mexico & I hold a temporary resident card as well now valid until 2015. I was just approved a B1/B2 this week.

So as other members already pointed out this should not be an issue at all for any kind of visa to the US in spite of having a Mexican visa if supported by proper documentation.

Kindly let me know if you need any further information.

Cheers,
pdma.

[Soumyajit9]

Hello Folks,

Came across this thread.
My manager has asked me to apply for H1B.
He said he would inform me when the cap opens to start applying.

However I haven't heard much from him in the last 2 weeks.

Does anyone know if the cap has opened for the forthcoming year applications ?

I am new to US Visas and would like to know if I can keep an eye on some website ?

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Hello Folks,

Came across this thread.
My manager has asked me to apply for H1B.
He said he would inform me when the cap opens to start applying.

However I haven't heard much from him in the last 2 weeks.

Does anyone know if the cap has opened for the forthcoming year applications ?

I am new to US Visas and would like to know if I can keep an eye on some website ?

The USCIS will start accepting the applications from April 1st and the whole process generally lasts for 5-6 months. Application is accepted from April 1st and the cap is 65000 for regular cap and 20000 for master's. If the number of application accepted exceeds than these cap the infamous lottery system is used to select the applicants. After this each application is taken up for processing.

The process and other details are explained more in detail in the below links.

http://www.h1base.com/visa/work/h1b%...cess/ref/1166/

http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/...b-requirements

http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-...015-cap-season.

Hope this helps.

[raksrules]

Has anyone here done Out of Cap H1B application ?
Mine is currently filed and was sent to USCIS on 14th October (as per their website). I already have the receipt number starting with WACXXXXXXXX.
How much time frame I can expect now before i receive any reply from them or the status to get updated on their website ?
Current status is in "Initial Review". I checked it using the receipt number on their website.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Has anyone here done Out of Cap H1B application ?

What is 'out of cap' h1 application? Is it like activating an earlier expired h1 petition?

[athanedar]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Has anyone here done Out of Cap H1B application ?
Mine is currently filed and was sent to USCIS on 14th October (as per their website). I already have the receipt number starting with WACXXXXXXXX.
How much time frame I can expect now before i receive any reply from them or the status to get updated on their website ?
Current status is in "Initial Review". I checked it using the receipt number on their website.

The current processing times for "regular" process is 4 months for approval and then 2 weeks for mailing the hard copy of petition and then 1 more month for visa stamping.

If it is urgent project requirement ask your employer to upgrade your application to "premium processing" by paying some $1200 and you will get the result within 2 weeks of upgrade.

[raksrules]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

What is 'out of cap' h1 application? Is it like activating an earlier expired h1 petition?

Precisely. I had a H1B earlier which expired in Jan 2013. I never extended it there. So now I had 2 options, file again as fresh but risk going through the lottery and another is Out of cap application (like mine) where I am sort of extending my Visa but after it has expired. I do not need to go through the cap / lottery and can apply round the year. The only difference is that I will get to stay in US only for the remainder of the period in future. So if I earlier stayed for 1 year and with this new visa, I can stay for additional 5 Years (total allowed 6 years).
With fresh application, I can stay for another full 6 Years.

Originally Posted by athanedar

The current processing times for "regular" process is 4 months for approval and then 2 weeks for mailing the hard copy of petition and then 1 more month for visa stamping.

If it is urgent project requirement ask your employer to upgrade your application to "premium processing" by paying some $1200 and you will get the result within 2 weeks of upgrade.

I checked the USCIS website and it says the California center has processing time of 2 Months for the I129 (H1B Application).

[athanedar]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Precisely

I checked the USCIS website and it says the California center has processing time of 2 Months for the I129 (H1B Application).

You are right but that processing time mentioned in website is in theory. Practically 4 months are required for approval based on recent applications.
You can search online for actual processing times. There are many forums where people have given actual timelines anywhere from 4 to 6 months depending on the case. But average is 4 months.

My H1 extension is applied Sep 23 and I am also waiting. Trying to convince my manager to upgrade processing as premium. Lets see what happens.

[raksrules]

Originally Posted by athanedar

You are right but that processing time mentioned in website is in theory. Practically 4 months are required for approval based on recent applications.
You can search online for actual processing times. There are many forums where people have given actual timelines anywhere from 4 to 6 months depending on the case. But average is 4 months.

My H1 extension is applied Sep 23 and I am also waiting. Trying to convince my manager to upgrade processing as premium. Lets see what happens.

My friend here told me that for extension (I am assuming you are in US currently ?) some maximum timeline is 240 days after it is applied. Not sure if it is same for a Out of Cap or fresh H1B application.
Any link where you checked for actual time lines ?
Also an optimistic thought I have is that since it has been filed now, well after they have processed the lottery application, hopefully the newer Out of cap H1B applications should go ahead faster. Because they don't really accept normal H1 applications expect on 01st April of the year.

[Soumyajit9]

Folks,

I didn't find any thread discussing L1 Visas, so posting my query here. Appreciate if you all can put some light on it.

What is the difference between L1 and L1 Blanket Visa ?
I am more interested in knowning what are the advantages of L1 Blanket over normal L1 ?
Which one is more flexible in terms of:

- Immigration / Applying Green Card
- Duration of stay initially
- Allowing spouse to work
- Allowing change of company while in US