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My Law,LLC Immigration Law Firm WebSite: www.mylawllc.com E-mail: attorney@mylawllc.com Phone: 1-(630) 903-9625

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Not Picked in H1B 2015 Lottery – Options?

Depending on your situation, you might be wondering what are the options.  Some of you might be Students on F1 Visa, some of you might be spouses on H4 visa, Some of you might be applying from your Home country, Some of you might be in L1 Visa applying.

F1 Student in USA – OPT ending in 2014 – Second Masters ? PhD ? STEM ?

§  If your degree falls under STEM category, you should talk to your employer, DSO and apply for 17 month OPT extension.  The big catch for this is that your employer has to be e-Verified. Most of the good employers are e-Verified, if not you will not be eligible for this offer.  This buys you another 17 month time and you can apply for H1B Visa 2016 quota.
§  You can consider applying to jobs in research institutes, Universities, Community colleges, and non-profit organizations…As these institutions do NOT fall under annual H1B Cap, it is a great option. This can be a little bit of work, but you will still be able to work in USA, if you find one.
§  You may consider PhD or Second Masters to keep yourself in status. You will Not get OPT for second master degree as it is of same level.

H4 Visa Holders – Not Picked in Lottery ?
§  If you do NOT have Masters, you may consider doing MS or MBA, that will allow you to get option to work for at least one year. Also, you will be eligible for 20,000 masters quota. Again, I believe that pursuing higher education without passion, just for the sake of degree or status is not the right thing to do.
§    As mentioned above, you should consider looking for jobs at Research Institutes, Non-profit organizations, Universities, Community colleges, etc. that do NOT have a cap limit.  One of my good friends wife worked at a lab as volunteer and then eventually they filed for her H1B visa. It can be work, but you can find it !
§  Hopefully the EAD for H1 Visa Holders proposed rule passes and some of you get eligibility to work in the US. The good thing is that you are not like F1 visa holders and you do not have to leave the country. It may not be the outcome you wanted, but at least gives you an option to stay in the country.

L1 Visa Holders – Options
The options for L1 Visa holders are not really worth it like applying for a job at Non-profit or getting higher education in US, the reason is that you already have a job, but you wanted the flexibility to work on H1B Visa, so that you can move around and be a bit more independent…But, you can choose to do them. The good part is that you do not have to leave the country and your spouse can work on L2 visa. If your employer is able to hold you on L1 for some more time, you can apply for next year quota…
Applied from Other Country for H1B Visa- Not Selected?


Well, if your current company has global presence with office in USA, you can talk to your manager and see, if there are options to relocate and work on L1 Visa.  Alternatively, you can move to a multi-national company with offices in USA, so that you have two options for next year, which is H1B and L1 Visa.

My Law, LLC                                            
Immigration & Tax Law Firm
Phone: (630) 903-9625
1230 E. Diehl Rd. Suite 106
Naperville, IL 60563

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WebSite: http://mylawllc.com/
Phone: (630) 903-9625
E-mail: attorney@mylawllc.com