H1B approved but never joined the company

[samiscool1]

Hi,
I came to US on H4 VISA. My H4 is valid from March 2015 - December 2017.
In the meantime, Company A applied for my H1B visa which got approved. The I-129 (petition for a nonimmigrant worker) is valid from October 2015 to September 2018.

However, because of lack of project, I still have not started working for Company A. And I am worried about going 'Out of Status'.

But that company's attorney says that - "I am still in H-4 status; Since I never worked for them, my H-1B remains unactivated.". He also mentioned that - "They have to raise an e-request or e-verify to USCIS for status change when I get a project and am ready to work".

I want to know if those are true statements. And is there a way I can verify my current status (H4 or H1) online.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks !!

[raghvi]

Hi,
I came to US on H4 VISA. My H4 is valid from March 2015 - December 2017.
In the meantime, Company A applied for my H1B visa which got approved. The I-129 (petition for a nonimmigrant worker) is valid from October 2015 to September 2018.

However, because of lack of project, I still have not started working for Company A. And I am worried about going 'Out of Status'.

But that company's attorney says that - "I am still in H-4 status; Since I never worked for them, my H-1B remains unactivated.". He also mentioned that - "They have to raise an e-request or e-verify to USCIS for status change when I get a project and am ready to work".

I want to know if those are true statements. And is there a way I can verify my current status (H4 or H1) online.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks !!

Do you have the I797 Approval Notice of the H1? If yes, does it have an I-94 at the bottom? If yes, then you already are in h1 status and must be getting paid by the employer, irrespective you have work or not, other wise you are out of status.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[samiscool1]

Do you have the I797 Approval Notice of the H1? If yes, does it have an I-94 at the bottom? If yes, then you already are in h1 status and must be getting paid by the employer, irrespective you have work or not, other wise you are out of status.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

Thanks Raghvi for the response. Yes my I-797 Approval notice does have the I-94 at the bottom.
But the company attorney mentions that 'they have not raised an e-request or e-verify to USCIS for status change. So I am on H4 Visa'. Is there a way we can validate it. Can we get a H1B approval without an actual COS (from H4 to H1b).

Also if I am Out of Status, then what all options do I have?

[raghvi]

Thanks Raghvi for the response. Yes my I-797 Approval notice does have the I-94 at the bottom.
But the company attorney mentions that 'they have not raised an e-request or e-verify to USCIS for status change. So I am on H4 Visa'. Is there a way we can validate it. Can we get a H1B approval without an actual COS (from H4 to H1b).

Also if I am Out of Status, then what all options do I have?

The attorney is wrong, the fact that they filed an H1 for you with USCIS and an approval was given for it, in itself points to the fact that you are already on H1 status. You can tell the employer to pay you are per LCA otherwise you have the option to complain to DOL.You can force the employer to pay and file a parallel H1 to H4 COS, if you have a complaint registered against the employer the DOL can help you keep your status and that will help you get a COS approved to H4.

This is my opinion not legal advice.