Immigration policies by American companies

[aj2911]

Hello

My company has a very unusual immigration (Green Card) policy. Here is the gist of the policy:

1. The employee has to complete 3 years before the company will start the GC process.
2. The employee has to stay for 3 years after the completion of the GC process.
3. The employee is free not to abide by these terms and pay for the immigration costs.
3.1. The employee will have to use the company's Immigration layer for his / her immigration work, and would have to pay the lawyer's fees and other charges. The lawyer's fee is USD $7000
3.2. The employee will have to pay the company the cost of newspaper advertising and processing costs for labor clearance. This amount is USD $3000.
3.3. The above mentioned amounts are the minimum charged and can go up if any complications arise. The employee will bear the additional costs.

I have completed about 2 and half years on my H1B and have been with this company for about 6 months. I don't think I can afford to wait 3 years before my GC files.

If I choose to pay from my own pocket, I think $10,000 (minimum) is a HUGE amount to pay, and it is not worth the amount of time and money spent. Law's of Murphy says the amount will definitely go up

I have challenged the policy and have a meeting soon with the heads of various departments to make a case of why this policy is wrong and not in favor of employees.

Does anyone has any similar experiences ? What did you do ?
Does any other company has a similar policy ? What is your company's immigration policy ?
Do you have a suggestion / comment on my case ? How can / should I present the facts in the meeting ?
Are there any published statistics that I could present to the company, to show the error in their ways ?

Any help / information / links / comments / suggestions / feedback will be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Ajay
[email protected]

[kw177]

Immigration policies by American companies

Not Legal Advice:

$10k sounds about right for this sort of thing.

The company I worked for payed for everything in LC/I140 stage. Because I chose to Consular Process I had to pay for my own airline ticket and accomodation (but thats OK I stayed with a freind for free). They did reimburse me for the Visa Fees when I produced the receipt.

Had I adjusted status like everyone else they would have paid for all of that.

Unfortunately for you there are no laws or regulations about how much an employee can be required to contribute to the GC process. I know H1B costs can't be passed on but companies can refuse to pay for GC Processing and pass the cost to there employees.

Whith the current economy this will happen more and more frequently and they are less and less likely to change.

However you can point out the following to them with regards to your case:

1 - You have only 3 1/2 years of H1 left. If you LC and I140 cannot be completed before your visa expires they will have to wear the cost of finding and training someone to replace you.

2 - Your replacement will take a minimum of three months to become familiar enough with the compny and the projects to actually contribute something of value.

3 - The three months of salary for this person will easily be a $10000 cost to the company.

In other words you need to convince them that it will be cheaper to keep you. You may be able to get them to compromise.

Good Luck

[aj2911]

RE: Immigration policies by American companies

kw177, thanks a lot for your reply.

You do have a valid point with the finding a new person and replacing me. I will put this in view also.

I am sure this will help a lot.

Thanks

Ajay