Can H1B job start date and effective date be after October 1? (OPT-H1B)

[flowerqc]

I am currently on OPT visa ending on Jan. 2014 and I am working for an international organization A.
Company B is helping me with the H1B petition and says that the effective start date will automatically change to Oct. 1, 2013. I originally expected to join company B in fall 2013 but I plan to work longer with A and transfer to B on Jan. 2014.
Would it be possible to make the job start date and H1B effective date with company B to be on Jan. 2014? I am afraid that if the H1B becomes effective on Oct. 1, 2013 then I will be illegitimate to work with A.

I would greatly appreciate your advice.

[raghvi]

I am currently on OPT visa ending on Jan. 2014 and I am working for an international organization A.
Company B is helping me with the H1B petition and says that the effective start date will automatically change to Oct. 1, 2013. I originally expected to join company B in fall 2013 but I plan to work longer with A and transfer to B on Jan. 2014.
Would it be possible to make the job start date and H1B effective date with company B to be on Jan. 2014? I am afraid that if the H1B becomes effective on Oct. 1, 2013 then I will be illegitimate to work with A.

I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Technically yes but the H1 petition can be filed at max 6 Months before start date. So if the start date is 01-Oct-2013 the applications has to be filed on 01-Apr-2013 or later. Similarly if you want to start on 01-Jan-2014 the H1 petition is filed 01-August-2013 or later. the catch is that the H1 cap should not be filled till 01-August 2013 in this case. Seeing the recent trend the H1 Cap is expected to be filled up within a week or 10 days of 01-Apr-2013 this year so I doubt the H1 cap will be open for you till 01-August-2013 in order for a start date of 01-jan-2014.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[flowerqc]

Technically yes but the H1 petition can be filed at max 6 Months before start date. So if the start date is 01-Oct-2013 the applications has to be filed on 01-Apr-2013 or later. Similarly if you want to start on 01-Jan-2014 the H1 petition is filed 01-August-2013 or later. the catch is that the H1 cap should not be filled till 01-August 2013 in this case. Seeing the recent trend the H1 Cap is expected to be filled up within a week or 10 days of 01-Apr-2013 this year so I doubt the H1 cap will be open for you till 01-August-2013 in order for a start date of 01-jan-2014.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thank you Raghvi. I wonder would it be possible to file the petition on 01-Apr-2013 and use the cap, but later let the employer to send a letter to USCIS to change the effective date to be on 01-Jan-2014? I guess that employer can cancel the H1B petition anytime even after it is filed, so can they change the effective date?

[raghvi]

That would be an H1B amendment. I dont think one can do amendment before approval. I believe if you want to delay till Jan-2014 but still take advantage of being part of Cap opening on 01-Apr-2013 then its better to file H1 as consular processing and later do an amendment. But the amendment approval is at the discretion of USCIS thereby if refused you may have to leave US and get H1 stamped in order to return. Discuss with the immigration lawyer.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[pvs103]

Hi Guys, I am currently on F1-OPT Stem Extension and my H1B has been approved with new I-94 having my employer's name and a valid from date as Oct 1st 2013. My OPT expires on Jan 14 2014, and my employer says I can continue to work on OPT till it expires and from next day onwards (ie. 15th Jan 2014) I can start on H1B. From what I have read in various posts on internet is that once H1B is approved with a certain date (Oct 1st in my case), previous status is no longer valid from that date. Does anyone know any official link where this information is mentioned. If yes, please let me know, I need to share that with my employer to convince them to start my H1B from Oct 1st itself. Thanks in advance.

[SunnyS]

Hello Guys,

I am facing similar issue.
My client filed I-129 petition for me and gave start date as 1 Oct, 2013 in the petition. But, my joining date was Nov 4, 2013. I had been working on OPT STEM ext at client site till Nov 1, 2013 through a contractor.
While searching online, I found that this is illegal and by doing so I have violated my visa rules.
I have to go to India for stamping next month and just found about the issue. Please help as to what can be done in this case. Should ask the client to modify start date in their records and file a new I-9?