Expired H1 - Renewal Options

USA H1B Visa
1

Hi

My H1 was filed by my previous employer in April 2008 cap and was selected in lottery and was stamped and was valid till July 2011.

I travelled in Jan 2009 and was there till Sep 2010 and returned back for good and changed to my current employer in India.

I checked my receipt no. Now and this H1 seems to be valid and is not cancelled by my previous employer.

  1. Can this H1 be transffered to my current employer and renewed now?
  2. Renewal option is valid within 6 years from the date of petition approval (2008 in my case) or 6 years from the date of last exit from US (2010 in my case)?

Thanks

2
  1. Can this H1 be transffered to my current employer and renewed now? - There is no such thing as H1 transfer. Every time you change employers on h1 you have a new h1. People use it interchangeably however. Lets say your current employer wants to file H1 for you, they can use the fact that you are cap exempt and get the h1 easily without having to wait till april 2016 and go thru the lottery again. 2. Renewal option is valid within 6 years from the date of petition approval (2008 in my case) or 6 years from the date of last exit from US (2010 in my case)? - It is date of petition approval.
3

Thanks for your reply. But in few threads/websites it is mentioned that 6 years validity is from date of exit and not from date of approval. Could you please clarify on this.