H1B extension beyond 6 years if PERM Audit is rejected

USA H1B Visa
1

I got a random audit on PERM last week (4th May, 2018) and my priority date is Nov 2017. How long will be the wait time for the dol to accept/deny my PERM application?

Also, my 2nd 3 year H1B expires in September 2020. If my PERM gets denied, will it be a problem to reapply and extend my H1B beyond 6 years.

Any help is highly appreciated.

2

Hi @ssrigane

PERM Audit processing time

At this time, the PERM audit cases are taking hell lot of time to move. Currently (see the times above), PERM Audit cases are taking more than 249 days to process.

At this time, DOL is processing Audit cases that they received in Aug 2017.

You will have to wait quite a bit.

H1B extension after 6 years if PERM is rejected

If your PERM is rejected, you cannot extend your H1B beyond 6 years.

You will have to go back to your country and wait for 1 year to re-apply fresh H1b in new H1B lottery quota.

Let me know if you need more information.

3

Hello Anil,

Thanks for the reply. 250 days meaning, 250 from the day the PERM has been applied? My priority date is November 2017. So I need to calculate 250 days from this date?

Also, If my company is able to reapply PERM (in case of a reject) before September 2019 (1 year to my H1 expiry September 2020), I can apply 1 year extension under AC-21 right?

Thanks,
Sriganesh

4

Hi @ssrigane

PERM Audit Processing Time shows the date PERM was filed?

Yes, the date shown on PERM Audit processing time is that date and month that your original PERM case was filed.

So, if you case was filed in Nov 2017 and you received Audit in May 2018, you will still count Nov 2017 as your filing date for PERM audit.

Filing PERM again after rejection and H1B extension beyond 6 years?

Yes, you can apply H1B extension under AC 21 if the PERM is pending for 365+ days at the end of your H1B 6th year.

You can also re-claim your time spent outside USA if the time between your PERM filing and H1B’s last day in 6th year is falling short of 365 days.
Normally, this is a clever strategy that people use if the short fall is about 1-60 days (depending on how long you have stayed out of USA).

You can count the number of days you were outside USA during your H1B and then file for extension in 6th year.
This will help push your 6th year dates forward and may make you eligible for AC21 if your company is not able to timely file PERM in Sep 2019.

5

Thanks Anil. Really helpful info.

6

Hello Anil,

One more question. So the 253 days mentioned above includes the period during which the company send back the requested audit documents (usually maximum 30 days).

253 days = starting from priority date + the time taken to send audit documents + the time taken by dol to come to a decision. Is this right?

7

Yes. you are right.
Let me know if you need more information.

8

Thanks for your immediate response.