Extension of Stay

By Editorial Team , 20 December 2006

USCIS New Policy: Individuals eligible for 7th Year H-1B Extension are NOT required to be in the U.S., or in H-1B status.

The USCIS has announced that after completing a policy review that it was clarifying that “Aliens who are eligible for the 7th year extension may be granted an extension of stay regardless of whether they are currently in the United States or abroad and regardless of whether they currently hold H-1B status.”  The 7th year H-1B extension is available for individuals with Labor Certification (PERM, traditional, or RIR) applications or I-40 petitions pending for more than one year, and for individuals who have approved I-140 petition

Extensions of Stay Filed Late: When the Delay May Be Excused

The requirement this page qualifies. A request to extend a nonimmigrant stay must ordinarily be filed before the previously authorized period expires, and by or for a person who has maintained the classification. An extension or amendment of stay may not be approved where the person failed to maintain the previously accorded status, or where that status expired before the request was filed. The same provision, however, allows the lateness of the filing to be excused. 8 C.F.R. 214.1(c)(4)(i).

Extension of Stay

What this part of the handbook covers. An extension of stay is a request to remain in the United States longer in a nonimmigrant classification that a person already holds. It is decided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on a request filed inside the country, and the general framework appears at 8 C.F.R. 214.1(c). This page sets out that framework. The page beneath it deals with the narrower problem of a request filed after the authorized stay has already expired.