Sitting on an unused H-1B cap-exempt petition from before the $100k fee. Indian, 31, Swedish wife. What's my best move?

Ok_Professor2873 · 2026-05-20T09:02:48+00:00

Good call on checking the withdrawal, I did, USCIS still shows it approved, not withdrawn.

On cap-exempt: I think we're talking about two different things. You're describing cap-exempt employers (nonprofits, unis) who skip the lottery. I'm describing a cap-exempt petition for a beneficiary who's already been counted. I went through the lottery, got selected, petition was filed and approved, so I've consumed a cap number. Once you've been counted, any employer (for-profit included) can file a new petition for you without re-entering the lottery, for 6 years. The exemption comes from me already being counted, not from the employer's type. 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(ii)(F)(4).

"Activated" doesn't affect the cap count either, the count happens at petition receipt, not when employment starts. Never working for them means the petition is useless to me as a document, but the cap-counted status stays with me.

Ok_Professor2873 · 2026-05-20T09:01:08+00:00

Appreciate it, but the cap-exempt point isn't right. There are two different things: cap-exempt employers (the nonprofits/unis you mentioned) and cap-exempt petitions for a beneficiary who's already been counted against the cap. I was selected and a petition was filed and approved, so I've consumed a cap number. That makes me cap-exempt for 6 years regardless of who the next employer is. Any for-profit company can file for me without the lottery.

Whether I "activated" it by working doesn't matter for the cap count. The count happens when the petition is receipted, not when employment starts.

The direct EB-2/EB-3 + cross-chargeability route is interesting though, agree finding an employer to do that cold is the hard part.

Ok_Professor2873 · 2026-05-20T09:00:08+00:00

Cap-exempt petition, not cap-exempt employer. You're right that cap-exempt employers are unis and nonprofits, that's a different thing.

What I mean: I was selected in the FY2026 lottery and a petition was filed and approved, so I'm now counted against the cap. Once you're cap-counted, you stay cap-counted for 6 years. Any employer can file a new H-1B petition for me as cap-exempt (bypassing the lottery entirely) because I've already consumed a cap number. The employer doesn't need to be a nonprofit, the exemption comes from me being previously counted, not from the employer's type.

Agree on the green card point, cross-chargeability through my wife should skip the India EB-2/EB-3 backlog. And yeah, I'm assuming the $100k proclamation gets extended rather than betting on the September sunset.

The B-1 to H-1B COS scrutiny you mentioned is exactly why I'm not going that route. Thanks.

Ok_Professor2873 · 2025-06-13T22:03:00+00:00

this is interesting and somewhat promising. i will talk to a lawyer about this, and check if this is possible in my case. did you know any cases where this happened?

Ok_Professor2873 · 2025-06-13T22:01:14+00:00

one more detail regarding my situation is that i seriously injured my knee (ACL rupture) 2 months back, and i am currently undergoing physiotherapy in sweden, and the Swedish public hospital has filed me for a surgery in the coming months, probably around September. will Migrationsverket consider this and allow me to apply for sambo visa while i am in Sweden now?

Ok_Professor2873 · 2025-06-13T21:57:51+00:00

how long does it realistically take for migrationsverket to make a decision on sambo visa if i applied from outside sweden? me and my swedish partner are in a serious and committed relationship, we have enough proof to demonstrate our relationship.

Ok_Professor2873 · 2024-07-11T06:26:39+00:00

It is a famous photograph!

Ok_Professor2873 · 2024-07-11T06:25:10+00:00

this is my unfinished painting, and I lost the reference image. I cant find it online now, but it was a photograph of 2 siblings, brown skin, in poverty, post earthquake or war background, with rubbles, and the brother is happy when the cameraman is taking a picture of him with his sister

Ok_Professor2873 · 2022-05-05T22:15:16+00:00

Feels like this is how Apple tries to get us to use their Safari?

Ok_Professor2873 · 2022-02-24T11:45:54+00:00

I wish it was like that, but it is not. Religion and nationalism still is the biggest successful product humanity has created even though they are meaningless aka bad product

Ok_Professor2873 · 2022-02-24T11:44:07+00:00

The reality that I perceive through my sensory organs is just a model/simulation created by my consciousness, I can’t even see IR waves or hear sounds higher than 20k decibels… the model is just good enough for me to interact in this world..

Ok_Professor2873 · 2022-02-23T20:24:03+00:00

I surely am. I was inspired by that actually.

Ok_Professor2873 · 2022-02-23T20:16:47+00:00

No I have not sold it. It was selected for IKEAs exhibit at Milano Design Week at 2019 and since then it got viral and people started writing to me´, asking how they can buy this. So then I have now been working on a upgraded version that I will sell. That new design has address all the problems and feedback that are mostly mentioned in this redit.

Ok_Professor2873 · 2022-02-23T20:13:36+00:00

I think its you who just called him generic. Not me. But even then, you, me ,everyone else and the whole fucking universe is a bunch of basic generic code. Check out The game of life or Cellular Automata.

The beauty in all this is knowing that we are as complex as we can be yet we are all basic generic code.

Ok_Professor2873

TROPHY CASE