Questions on H1 B Transfer

[justanotherloginid]

Hi,

I am planning on resigning from company A and join Company B in USA, by using H-1B portability option. I wish to go to India for vacation immediately after joining Company B.

Questions:

1) Do I need to wait for my H-1B transfer (new petition with Company B) to get completed fully OR is it sufficient to just have the H-1B receipt handy before I go to India.

2) Do I need to necessarily get a new visa stamping while I am in India OR can I travel back to US using the new Company B petition and earlier visa stamping with Company A (if it is valid for next couple of months or so or during my travel - for eg. if my current stamping is valid till Aug'11, what is the requirement if I travel back in July'11 vs. I travel back in Sep'11)?

3) How much of the 6 year H-1B quota have I exhausted considering my visa petition was first approved on 11/01/2007 and I traveled to US first on 05/30/2009. Basically, which of the two dates is considered as the date on which the 6 year clock started.

It would be really great if the experts can respond to all these questions.

Thank you so much.

[pontevecchio]

1. You can always travel back. But you will need H1 petition approval to return. Talk to the company.

2. If you have never had status issues and have always been in status you can use the old visa with the new petition as long as you tell them so on entry and make sure the I94 is based on your latest approved H1 petiion.

3. H1 status refers to stay in the USA with an H1 I94.