It does not matter what your intentions are, what matters is what the Officer perceives your intentions appear. Since you are away from you home...

It is not an automatic reset as in most years new H-1B was secured only through lottery. If a previous H-1B was relied on for balance time, it is...

Both viable options however to return to work for current employer and then transfer seems to be one with less changes to the plan.

I-140 remains valid for retaining priority date and if valid for over 180 days for H-1B extensions. For adjusting status or residency, the offer...

You are to answer honestly, no other choice unless you want to misrepresent and trigger adverse immigration questions. However the important part...

Petitioning employer has H-1B approval for I-9 verification. If you continue to work for this employer per H-1B, you are maintaining status.

You may COS to H-4 but if you are running out of H-1b time, this is not a good idea as the time used to continue to work will eat up the H-1B time.

I-140 can be filed, ensure you address the RFE issues that were raised or it will be money wasted. H-1B extension can be sought based on this filing.

We do see RFE(s) for most of our H-1B PP filings. We also see them issued towards the end of the 15 day processing times.

It is best to have an application filed if there is a gap in status. Since this is new territory, we will have to see if USCIS accepts H-1B...