Booking date for VISA appointment

[rakesharm]

Hi,

I am currently in US on H1B Visa.

My Visa Expired on 9/10/2010 but I have a valid I-797.

I need to take the VISA appointment in Chennai consulate for 2nd week of Nov 2011.

While booking the date, i need to select the option YES/NO for the question :-

Are you applying for the same class of visa which is currently valid or has expired within the
past 12 months?

I need to answer 'NO' to this question as my visa expired more than 12 months ago,but under
which category will my visa be processed as i dont fall into visa renewal category. how does
this impact processing of my application.
what is the difference between visa renewal category and the regular category? will there be more scrutiny to my application?

Thanks

[kabkaba]

IMO that is only an administrative thing. In any case you must answer no anyway. Don't lie or try to hide anything in Visa application matters, it will come back and bite you later.