H1-B visa renewal criteria

[khaland]

Hi,

My H1-B visa on passport has expired on 14 March 2008 and I am staying in US with extended I-797. I have not stepped out of US in this period. I am planning to get my visa stamped in Jan 2010 and trying to book online appointment in VFS. I see the following criteria for H1-B visa renewal.

Visa renewal appointments are available to visa applicants who:
1. 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.
2. Wish to apply for the same visa class (e.g. had an H1 work visa, now applying again for an H1 work visa)
3. Are Indian nationals (hold Indian passports)
4. Are resident in the New Delhi , Chennai, or Mumbai consular districts (Applicants attending the interview at the U.S. Consulate, Kolkata do not have an option to select the option for visa renewal. They may opt for a regular interview).

I am concerned about the point 1 which says, that has expired less than 12 months from the scheduled date of interview.

My visa has expired more than 12 months before. Is this something I need to worry about? Please clarify.

Thanks,
K

[shervin143]

Since your visa has expired more than 12 months ago, you need to answer NO to the below question before you continue to fill the application.

"Are you applying for the same class of visa which is currently valid or has expired within the past 12 months?" YES/NO

[abhayg4]

Hi ,

As already mentioned that you have to choose "NO" for the question as you do not fall under the Visa RENEWAL category.

There is nothing to worry about it , this option is just to filter out the Appointment Dates i.e. sometimes for Visa renewal category you will find some dates open and if you select "NO' , you will find same date as CLOSED.

As far as Documents /Check list is concerned - it is same for both the categories.

Best of luck..

thanks and regards,
Abhay