Change of Status from L1 to H1 ( Had H1 Status before L1)

[rmalhotra]

Hi Everyone,
I was working on H1b with Employer A from June 2007 to Dec 2008.
In the above period, I got an H1b extension with Employer A itself which was valid until May’2009.
I had to travel to India in December 2008, and got my H1b stamping with above H1b extension in March 2009(I could not travel on this H1b) and it expired in May’2009.
Employer A applied for my L1 in June 2009 and I travelled to US in June 2009 itself.
I am on L1 since June 2009.
Now, I want to consider my options of changing my status to H1b from L1 (currently).
Following are my queries:
1. As I understand, I do not lie under yearly H1B Quota as I cleared H1B Quota earlier. Is this understanding correct?
2. How much time does it take to process the Change of Status from L1 to H1B in my case?

a. Is it similar to a H1B transfer, which takes 15 days with Priority processing?
b. Does an employer need to apply for an entirely new petition or he can use my old H1B petition as a reference to apply for the new one?

3. Any other thing which I should know about this process?
I would really appreciate any help / quick reply to answer my queries above.
Thanks a ton in advance for your help.

Regards
RM

[shervin143]

1. As I understand, I do not lie under yearly H1B Quota as I cleared H1B Quota earlier. Is this understanding correct?
>>> Yes.

2. How much time does it take to process the Change of Status from L1 to H1B in my case?
>>> 2-3 months by normal process and 15 days by premium.

a. Is it similar to a H1B transfer, which takes 15 days with Priority processing?
>>> Yes.

b. Does an employer need to apply for an entirely new petition or he can use my old H1B petition as a reference to apply for the new one?
>>> The CAP from the old H1B petition can be used.

3. Any other thing which I should know about this process?
>>> Time spend in H1B status + L1 status = 6 years. So calculate how much time is left in your 6 year term.