H1 Renewal Question

[Balaaji]

Hi,

I have couple of questions regarding H1B visa renewal.

My H1 petition filed by my employer for a period from Oct 2011 to oct 2014.But my petition got approved only on June 2012 and

I got my visa stamped on July 2012 and the visa end date is October 2014.

I am in US and my I94 expire date is same as my petition/visa end date(Oct 2014).

My question is

1)Whether its required to travel to India for visa renewal which is due on OCT 2014?

2)H1 visa allows to work only for max of 6 years,in that case whether my clock starts from my petition start date or visa approval date or port of entry date.

Thanks in advance for reply...

Balaji.

[pontevecchio]

1. Only if you travel after that date. 2. H1 visa is a stamp in your passport and does not allow work authorization. The approved H1 petition along with the I94 does. H1 status refers to actual days spent in the USA working for the H1 employer with a valid H1 petition from that employer. You could presumably add up the days you were in the USA in H1 status and subtract that from 6 years and that is what you are entitled to with no single term more than 3 years.