The curious case of the revoked petition

[Punekar]

First , some background.
My first ever H1B petition is approved from 2011 quota, I797 has date till Sep 2014.

LCA filed for city ABC , approved. Wage "X" was > prevailing wage in that city, as required.

By the time I needed to travel in Q2 2012 , I needed to travel to another town. Project + Client + my employer remained unchanged.

So LCA filed for new town (much tinier) PQR, in a different state. Wage was "Y" > greater than prevailing wage in that town, but less than earlier amount "X".

However, when I went in to get my visa stamped in March , my passport was returned with a yellow slip, saying that my petition itself was invalid, since I was supposed to work on Wage "X" but now am going to work on wage "Y". The VO said that she was sending it back to USCIS to be revoked.

I come back , inform the same to my company's visa team , who claim that everything they did was above board and that my rejection/revocation will be challenged. I believe I was the first rejection in my company that year for H1 , amongst hundreds of applications.

The company claims they havent heard back from anyone in this regard. Its been 200+ days since the day of the visa interview.
What are the chances of an outcome in my favour ?
Will I require a completely new petition , which would require me to wait till Oct 2014. If so, I will start looking for a new job here in India itself.

PS : I had travelled a couple of times earlier on my B1 visa for the same company at the same client location. That visa was "canceled without prejudice" on the same day. My company is an Indian IT MNC.

[kabkaba]

The company should have also amended the petition in addition to filing new LCA. They can file a new petition (cap-exempt) now.

[hireitpeople]

First , some background.
My first ever H1B petition is approved from 2011 quota, I797 has date till Sep 2014.

LCA filed for city ABC , approved. Wage "X" was > prevailing wage in that city, as required.

By the time I needed to travel in Q2 2012 , I needed to travel to another town. Project + Client + my employer remained unchanged.

So LCA filed for new town (much tinier) PQR, in a different state. Wage was "Y" > greater than prevailing wage in that town, but less than earlier amount "X".

However, when I went in to get my visa stamped in March , my passport was returned with a yellow slip, saying that my petition itself was invalid, since I was supposed to work on Wage "X" but now am going to work on wage "Y". The VO said that she was sending it back to USCIS to be revoked.

I come back , inform the same to my company's visa team , who claim that everything they did was above board and that my rejection/revocation will be challenged. I believe I was the first rejection in my company that year for H1 , amongst hundreds of applications.

The company claims they havent heard back from anyone in this regard. Its been 200+ days since the day of the visa interview.
What are the chances of an outcome in my favour ?
Will I require a completely new petition , which would require me to wait till Oct 2014. If so, I will start looking for a new job here in India itself.

PS : I had travelled a couple of times earlier on my B1 visa for the same company at the same client location. That visa was "canceled without prejudice" on the same day. My company is an Indian IT MNC.

Hmm, Company should have amended the H1B before you went to Consulate. File a new H1B with a new Employer.

[Punekar]

The company should have also amended the petition in addition to filing new LCA. They can file a new petition (cap-exempt) now.

Thank you kabkaba..
Can the company file a new cap-exempt petition even before a decision has been reached for my earlier VISA stamping ? This was my first H1B ever.

Hmm, Company should have amended the H1B before you went to Consulate. File a new H1B with a new Employer.

Thank you hireitpeople. Will the new petition with the new employer be subject to H1b cap ? Can they do it even if I have never "started" my H1B status with my original employer ?

[kabkaba]

Yes.
No.
Yes.

[india2012]

Yes.
No.
Yes.

Hi,

My case is similar.

Since December 2010, I was in US on L1 B sponsored by well known Indian IT company. One of the U.S. based firm sponsor my H1B. That firm initiated the process and file my petition in October, 2011 in premium processing. My petition was approved in November 2011. I'd resigned from India based I.T. company and joined this U.S. based firm. After one month, I was relocated to another province at client site. In March 2012, when I came back to India and went to Delhi embassy for stamping with my wife, VO asked me for my work location. I replied that earlier my work location is X and then I was relocated to Y. She asked me for the LCA. I have presented the LCA of both X and Y. Then she asked me for my client letter. I had shown her my client letter.

Then she took my passport, I-797 and other documents used at the time of petition filing. She told me that after verifying the documents my passport would be mailed to me with VISA. I hadn't got any slip or case number.

After a week, when I hadn't received any mail or message from embassy, I queried to embassy. I got a reply that my case is under AP.
I am under administrative processing from last seven months.

My client was same but client location got changed. I'd appeared in the interview with new LCA but without amended petition.

Do you have any idea, will USCIS revoke my petition or ask for amended petition?

I've followed my cases in different forums with same issue, some got stamping without any problem and some stucked in AP.


Can anyone please suggest what should I do.

[Punekar]

@india2012 : Did you get any approval/rejection ?

My case is stuck with USCIS for 320 days now. My employer says they will not file a new petition until they hear back from USCIS. I am stuck in a limbo now.

[india2012]

@india2012 : Did you get any approval/rejection ?

My case is stuck with USCIS for 320 days now. My employer says they will not file a new petition until they hear back from USCIS. I am stuck in a limbo now.

In October second week, I'd received a letter that my case has been sent back to USCIS. On USCIS, it is showing my case had been received in last week of October. Since then, I haven't heard anything from USCIS. When did USCIS received your case?

[Punekar]

In October second week, I'd received a letter that my case has been sent back to USCIS. On USCIS, it is showing my case had been received in last week of October. Since then, I haven't heard anything from USCIS. When did USCIS received your case?

My case was received by USCIS in Mar'12. It was reaffirmed in Apr'13. (1+ year). But now i havent heard anything back from either the consulate or anyone till today (2nd May '13). I have been reading through the forums and gleaned that we have to wait until the consulate contacts us for a reinterview/resubmission.
Incase we have to reinterview, do we have to fill DS160 again ? I am married now (wasnt when I last went for interview) , and would also like my wife to get a dependent visa along with me.