H1 Change of Status- Returned to India- Is H1 valid now?

[hera]

Hello,
I am in a very tricky situation- I was in US till 2010 on H1 (Change of Status from L2 to H1) visa and came back to India and quit the company which sponsored me the H1 COS. It's been almost 10 months now since I came back. I am going back to the US again in L2, in this scenario-

1. Will my original H1 petition be still valid and can I get the H1 transferred to a new company ?
2. Would transfer mean Sponsorship?
3. I have read in some forums that only a gap of 60days is allowed for a h1 transfer- in case I dont qualify for a transfer, does it mean the new company shud do a new petition for me, and would that be under cap or without any CAP?

[shervin143]

If you haven't used the entire 6 year term on your H1B (L1 + H1B combined), then any employer can file a H1B petition on your bahlaf using the old CAP (Just give them a copy of your old approval notice) and request an immediate start date (Irrespective of whether the old petition is now valid or not).

[hera]

Thanks for your response!
Just one clarification required- in this case, will the new employer file a new petition itself, or is it just transfer of an existing H1 petition??
My understanding of H1 transfer is that the petititon is filed only once while obtaining the original H1 (for the first time), and any subsequent transfers wouldnt mea new petition as such.
Please clarify.

[shervin143]

Just one clarification required- in this case, will the new employer file a new petition itself, or is it just transfer of an existing H1 petition??
>>> Transfer is nothing but a new petition on the existing CAP.

My understanding of H1 transfer is that the petititon is filed only once while obtaining the original H1 (for the first time), and any subsequent transfers wouldnt mea new petition as such.
>>> Your understanding is wrong. If you haven't used all 6 years on a H1B CAP, any employer can file a new petition using the same CAP from the old one and get the remaining term on that H1B CAP.