New h1b in place of abandoned h1b

[rajasanjeevkumar]

Hi,

I did my M.S. in US back in 2007 and I got h1b through h1b lottery in 2007 under STEM category. I used only 1 month of H1b and went back to my home country. I am trying to join a new company now but I cannot transfer my old H1B because it has been almost 9 years. I never entered US on this h1b so far. If the company wants to file a new h1b,

1) Do I have to go through the lottery again? If yes, will it be the same procedure just like other new MS graduates next year?
2) Is there a way the company can just apply for h1b now not wait for april 1st 2018? If yes, premium processing should take just 15 days, right?

Thank you very much for your valuable feedback.

Thanks,
Raja

[pontevecchio]

PP is suspended for now. There is no STEM H1. It is possible that you claim the remainder 5.11 years of your H1 having been subject to cap once. No time limit has ever been specified. Spend some money and get an opinion from the firm of Murthy and if they say it is possible the company can file a non cap H1 petition for you. At the very least let us know how it works out.