H1B Extension without visiting/working in US

[pagarwal]

Hi All,

My H1 petition was approved in 2008 which has the expiry date 1-Sep-2011. I got my visa stamped in Oct 2008 which has the expiry date same that is 1-Sep-2011. On this H1B visa or any other visa, I have never been to US during these periods as my petitioner was not able to provide job at that moment. I am currently in UK since Oct 2009 with some other employer. So my questions are:

1. Can I get my visa extended? If so then can I get it from UK or will I have to go to my base country to extend my visa?
2. As I understand since my petition is also expiring so in order to extend my visa, Will I have to get my petitioner to renew my petition? or is there no need of renewal of petition?

Please help.

Regards,

[shervin143]

1. Can I get my visa extended? If so then can I get it from UK or will I have to go to my base country to extend my visa?
>>> There is no such thing as visa extension. If you want to travel after the current H1B visa expiry date, then you need a valid H1B petition using which you need to get the H1B stamped again. Yes, you can get it stamped in U.K.

2. As I understand since my petition is also expiring so in order to extend my visa, Will I have to get my petitioner to renew my petition? or is there no need of renewal of petition?
>>> Yes, you need a valid petition to get the visa stamped and to travel. Any employer can file a H1B petition using the CAP from the previous H1B approval notice. Once approved, you can get the visa stamped again.

[pagarwal]

Thanks Shervin143.