Is my case RENEWAL or NEW H1b?

[nnnnn]

Hi,

sorry for placing in wrong thread...but needed answer asap...as i am travelling to india in one week....

I am planning for my visa stamping in chennai and have one doubt while booking the appointment. I am not able to know whether i can apply for renewal catogery or new application

My case is my H1b Visa stamping expired on sep30th2009 and going now for getting H1b stamping.( i am in USA on my H1b i-94 extension)

below is the way they have given details for appointment selection

Are you applying for the same class of visa which is currently valid or has expired within the past 12 months?*

yes or no( we have to choose one of this)

VISA RENEWAL CATEGORY INFORMATION - Please Read Carefully.

Visa renewal appointments are available to visa applicants who:

Have the same class of U.S. visa which is still valid or that has expired less than 12 months from the scheduled date of interview.

Wish to apply for the same visa class (e.g. had an H1 work visa, now applying again for an H1 work visa)

Are Indian nationals (hold Indian passports)

Are resident in the New Delhi, Chennai or Mumbai consular districts (Applicants attending the interview at the U.S. Consulates in Kolkata and Hyderabad do not have an option to select the option for visa renewal. They may opt for a regular interview).

The following applicants do NOT qualify for appointments in the visa renewal category:

Applicants who have never had a US visa.

Applicants who have a U.S. visa that expired more than 12 months ago.

Applicants whose last valid visa has been either cancelled or revoked.

Applicants applying for a different visa class (e.g. had a F1 student visa, now applying for a H1 work visa).

Non Indian passport holders

Applicants applying at the U.S. Consulates in Kolkata and Hyderabad.

First time H4 or L2 applicants over 18 years of age. (If you have recently married an H1b or L1 visa holder but have never had a visa interview for an H4 visa or L2 visa, you may not schedule in the renewal category.)

Applicants applying for more than one visa at the same time (e.g. F and B1/B2).

Applicants applying for entertainment/performance visas(P3 category).

Applicants applying for unskilled worker visas (H2b category).

Applicants who have lost their previous passports that had the valid / expired US visa.

CAN ANYONE OF YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHICH OPTION I SHULD CHOOSE...if anyone of you went for stamping in last few months please share your expericne as well

( the problem is my lawyer is in vacation , my company is not H1b based(only 8-10% of total employees or on h1b) so my HR is not 100% sure which option i shuld choose

[221gchennai]

Yours is Yes,as its a renewal.

The NO is for new stamping and the YES is for renewal.

[Coolbuddy0311]

For the first questiom - yes,

For the second one - first option

All the best.

[iamvoid]

my visa expired on 30sep2010 but i attended on 30th aug so it was a renewal case.

but i would have selected renewal as well when i was planning to attend on 2nd sep but i preponed.

2nd sep is less than 12 months of visa expiration because visa expires on a day and not at a month.

not sure if it was helpful

[nnnnn]

Thank you guys for your response... so i have to select renewal only even though my visa expired in sep 30th 2009 as i was in USA on H1b?

am i right?

[aHappyTexan]

Even if you are appying for H1b and you have always had been on H1b but if your previous H1b stamping expired 12 months prior to your apointment date, you are a new visa - not reneval - according to my knowledge and what I heard from others who had similar case.

Originally posted by iamvoid:

my visa expired on 30sep2010 but i attended on 30th aug so it was a renewal case.

but i would have selected renewal as well when i was planning to attend on 2nd sep but i preponed.

2nd sep is less than 12 months of visa expiration because visa expires on a day and not at a month.

not sure if it was helpful