Employment Based Immigration Handbook
IV. PERMANENT RESIDENCY PROCESSING
IV.3 EXEMPTIONS TO LIMITATIONS OF STAY (6 YEARS) AND 7TH YEAR H-1B EXTENSIONS (AC21)
One way to extend H-1B status beyond six years is through employment based sponsorship
that begins in a timely fashion. This most likely involves Department of Labor PERM
(Program Electronic Review Management System) processing. Under the American Competitiveness
in the 21st Century Act (AC21), the H-1B nonimmigrant may extend their six-year limitation
if 365 days or more have passed since the original filing date of the Labor Certification
(PERM) AC21 §106(a). This means the University may request an H-1B extension beyond
the normal six years if one year has passed since the filing of the PERM. However,
in order to file the PERM, the sponsoring stakeholder should understand that it may
take a year to prepare the PERM.
The College or Department should be cognizant of the time-intensive nature of preparing a PERM and AC21 rules regarding H-1B extensions when considering sponsoring an employment based immigrant petition. Any offer of sponsorship should only be given with these rules and guidelines in mind.
An AC21 extension may also come into play with applications that have an approved I-140, Immigrant Petition. However, if the Department believes it will want to sponsor an employee beyond the sixth year expiration date, then it is strongly recommended that the College or Department begin the Labor Certification process by the end of the Beneficiary’s fourth year of H-1B status.
Go to the next section: IV.4 General Requirements of a Labor Certification (PERM)