H1B Petition

[devenbasak]

Hi,

My company filed my H1B petition in 2003/2004 and they received my I129 with valid date from 07th Jun'04 to 18th Dec'06.

I got H1B stamped in Dec'05 and got H1B visa for only 1 year ie from Dec'05 to 18th Dec'06, I was in US from Jan'06-Aug'06 and then came back due to family health problem on being asked my organization's visa-desk told me that i cant go again to US on the same Visa.

My question is does my original H1B petition holds good or I need to re-apply per my limited knowledge one can stay for maximum 6 years in US on H1B by applying for an extension after 3 years.

Pls suggest what should be my plan of action

Thanks & Regards
Devendra

[king777]

Re:

Your original visa was till Dec-06. You went back to India in Aug-06. This means that your company could not apply for your extension of visa since you were in India. So your visa got expired.

Regards

[devenbasak]

You are correct , my question is does my original petition holds good or I need to apply for fresh H1B petition.

I know that my extension period has already elapsed should I file a fresh H1B petition or my old petition will work as I have only completed 8 months, I am bit confused here bcoz on one H1B petition one can stay for 6 years by applying for extension after 3 years.

Regards
Devendra

[calvinkiran]

Recently, USCIS has introduced a policy saying, people who have NOT spent their quota of 6 years of stay in the US can wish to do so on their previous petition. Aliter, they can also apply in the new quota (if they had acquired more than a year of continuous stay outside the USA). So, you can still make use of the old petition. I am sorry but I do not have complete details of how to do it. For the point mentioned above, you can refer to the USCIS newsletters or archives.

[devenbasak]

One more question , can i ask my new company to file extension on the basis of old petition?