Travel on H4 while H1B is pending decision

[anitk]

Hi,

 

I'm on H4 visa in US valid till July 2017 (Both I94 and Visa ). My Employer is filing for my(fresh) H1B this April 1st, 2015. I have travel plans to India in August 2015(2 weeks)  for personal reasons .

 

Assuming my petition gets selected in lottery,

 

1. Whats the best way for filing my fresh H1B petition- with or without COS? If its without COS, then do I need to go for stamping before I start work in Oct 2015?  

 

2. What will be the implications if my petition is still pending / Approved when I'm in India? 

 

3. What will be the procedure if I travel back on H4  in Aug 2015 and then to apply for change of status from H4 to H1B ? What will be time frame for this ? Can this be done in premium ? 

 

Thanks in advance.