Legal Question in Immigration Law in Virginia

Re: H1-B Question

What you describe is interesting because you were still "employed" by the company. You were simply not being used and not being paid because they did not have work. However, officially, with the INS (now called CIS) you were still officially with the company where you had the H-1. Therefore, you may be considered entirely legal now. Therefore you would not need to leave the country to apply for a new H-1 visa. The INS might not agree if they learned that you were not actually being paid, but it is an arguable position. The question is whether you were "furloughed" (temporarily put on hold because of a lack of work) or actually fired.

However, the problem now is that you only have 1 month to file for a new H-1 visa. If you file very fast, you could be okay. The INS will give you a few months "grace" time if you have already filed for a valid, new visa. As my colleague says, you should both file for a new visa FAST and also file for an extension at the same time. You need to act fast.

Re: H1-B Question

You should look into applying for an extension on your Visa and provide proof of your new job in making your request. If you have further questions, please contact our firm and speak with one of our attorneys for more information. Our phone numbers are as follows: the Fairfax office is 703-234-7725 and our Loudoun office is 703-777-7319. Thank you. We look forward to hearing from you.