if you are in your extended OPT, the company that laid you off should already have notified your college that you are laid off. And you have, I think only a certain time to be without work while in OPT too...it is 90 days for regular OPT, but I don't remember how many more days you get in extended OPT. If you don't have a job, filing for H1 is not a good idea since the government is cracking down on such practices. Some people were arrested a few weeks ago...so expect those guys to give out all the illegal things that goes in a dhoti consulting company to the investigators. Thus it isn't safe to file H1 without a job with false papers. You could be thrown in jail for visa fraud, mail fraud etc....the decision is upto you...