PLEASE HELP... H1 Transfer Issue/Termination of Employment ..

[mysticblue]

I'm on a H1B status and was initially working for Company A, with an approved Visa. I joined Company B and initiated a H1 transfer to them. I am on their pay role, however am on bench since i joined them. Its been 5 months and my visa transfer with Company B is still in Pending. Now, I have an offer from Company C, and am thinking about joining them.

Meanwhile, since Company B has not been able to find work, they have indicated a termination of my employment if i'm not placed in the project by end of this month. I think i have no other optiion but to join Company C before my visa with Company B is cancelled. I have been advised to go for a premium processing of H1 to Company C, so that by the time i'm out of Company B, i have a good chance of having approved visa from Company C.

1. If i initiate a transfer with Company C, and later Company B terminates my employment, what will happen to my pending visa with Company C?

2. Will H1 transfer with Company C get affected if USCIS gets to know that my pending transfer with Company B has been cancelled?

3. Will it make any difference if I resign from Company B (after initiating transfer with Company C), before Company B terminates my employment.? Are termination and resignation cases treated in the same way by USCIS ?

Please help, as i'm in a bit of a crisis about what decision to take. Any kind on response for the above would be appreciated.

[Subramanya]

H1 status

I'm on a H1B status and was initially working for Company A, with an approved Visa. I joined Company B and initiated a H1 transfer to them. I am on their pay role, however am on bench since i joined them. Its been 5 months and my visa transfer with Company B is still in Pending. Now, I have an offer from Company C, and am thinking about joining them.

Meanwhile, since Company B has not been able to find work, they have indicated a termination of my employment if i'm not placed in the project by end of this month. I think i have no other optiion but to join Company C before my visa with Company B is cancelled. I have been advised to go for a premium processing of H1 to Company C, so that by the time i'm out of Company B, i have a good chance of having approved visa from Company C.

1. If i initiate a transfer with Company C, and later Company B terminates my employment, what will happen to my pending visa with Company C?

2. Will H1 transfer with Company C get affected if USCIS gets to know that my pending transfer with Company B has been cancelled?

3. Will it make any difference if I resign from Company B (after initiating transfer with Company C), before Company B terminates my employment.? Are termination and resignation cases treated in the same way by USCIS ?

Please help, as i'm in a bit of a crisis about what decision to take. Any kind on response for the above would be appreciated

---- Apply for a transfer to company C under premium processing. Join them after you get a receipt saying that USCIS has received the application. Once you join comapny C work out your future from there onwards

---- Regarding company B, you will be resigning fom their assignment once you decide to join company C. USCIS as such has nothing to do with your termination and resignation. They want you to be in legal status. If working for a company be on an appropriate Visa while you are in the US. Otherwise you are considered to be out of status. Since company B has decided to do away with you by the end of this month, the better option would be to resign and join comapny C

Subramanya

[mysticblue]

Thanks Subramanya for your response.

I too think transferring my Visa to Company C immediately is the best way to come out of this situation.

Considering i initiated a premium transfer with Company C and my case is still pending by end of this month. If I eventually resign from Company B (with transfer to C in progress) and if Company B applies to USCIS for cancelling my Visa, will my pending transfer case to Company C get affected ?

[Subramanya]

H1 status

I too think transferring my Visa to Company C immediately is the best way to come out of this situation.

Considering i initiated a premium transfer with Company C and my case is still pending by end of this month. If I eventually resign from Company B (with transfer to C in progress) and if Company B applies to USCIS for cancelling my Visa, will my pending transfer case to Company C get affected ?

---- Once you resign company B, they can do nothing. If they write to USCIS to cancel your H1, you know that you have already made clear your intentions. Once you have applied to company C and joined take care of that and start your career with them. The rest is history and memories

Subramanya

[mysticblue]

Thank you so much. Your advice is appreciated.

[txh1b]

The rest is history and memories

Not really. If the bridging petition gets denied, it is an issue. If employer B cancels H1b, the person would have accumulated some out of status period. An attorney consultation to OP is best as there is more to this than consider the rest history.

1. Portability and "Bridging"

AC21 allows a foreign national who was previously in H-1B status to begin new employment (or to "port") upon the filing of an H-1B petition by a prospective employer. (As opposed to having to wait for petition approval before starting the new job). The memo states that a foreign national can port to new employment while an extension of H-1B status filed by another employer is pending on the foreign national's behalf.

For example, a foreign national is working for Employer A for 3 years. Prior to expiration of the foreign national's H-1B status, Employer A files a petition to extend his stay. While that petition is pending, the foreign national's H-1B status expires but the foreign national remains in a "period of stay authorized by the Attorney General," and is authorized to continue working for 240 days under 8 CFR 274A.12(b)(20). While the extension continues to pend, Employer B files a petition for new H-1B employment on the foreign national's behalf. Under the memo, the foreign national may go to work for Employer B immediately upon the filing of the new petition by Employer B, regardless of the fact that the foreign national was technically out of status when Employer B filed the new petition.

In addition, successive H-1B portability petitions can be filed on a foreign national's behalf so long as each portability petition separately meets the requirements for H-1B classification and extension of stay. However, if one of the bridging petitions is denied, it will most likely result in the foreign national's going out of status and beginning to accrue unlawful presence.


Mysiticblue,

you have been told about this in your previous thread on the same topic. Just hearing what you want to hear will not make your problem go away. Be cautious on how you deal with your situation.

[mysticblue]

Dear txh1b,

Yes, I was aware of the 'bridging' scenario. But since things were not really going my way (my employer had indicated termination of employment), I was getting into a desperate situation.

Fortunately, things have changed now. I just got to know from the USCIS site that my H1B transfer to Company B has been approved (Current Status: Approval notice sent.). So I think, I may now be able to directly transfer my Visa from Company B to C, and we may avoid the 'bridging'. However, I came to know that my current employer (B) takes a long time to hand over the approval notice to the employee (about a month). I don't think Company C can wait that long for initiating the new H1B transfer. Also, the termination deadline of August end from Company B still remains, which means that I have to transfer to C before end of this month.

1. If getting the approval notice from B gets delayed, can I use the receipt from B to transfer my visa to C ?

2. If not, is there any other alternative I can go with ?

[txh1b]

You can transfer with just the approval confirmation print-out from the USCIS case status online. You just need a copy of the petition from B to make it easy. Otherwise, online printout of the case status works fine for a transfer.

[mysticblue]

Thanks txh1b !

I talked with Company C Immigration team, and they are ok filing the transfer with Approval confirmation from USCIS site.

[mysticblue]

Hi txh1b,

As we discussed in the above posts, my H1B transfer to B was approved recently (however i am waiting for the approval notice hard copy). I have now initiated transfer my H1B to Company C using the transfer receipt from B and the confirmation printout from the USCIS site. I am about to resign from Company B and have about a week to join C. I might not be able to wait till B provides me the approval notice hard copies.

1. I havent received the hard copies of my transfer approval to B, and if B refuses to provide me the approval notice once I resign there, is it OK to move on without having the approval notice from B ?

2. Can i legally stay in the US, using the new receipt from C and the approved notice from A (i may not the approval notice from B, if they refuse to give me) ?

3. I have H1B stamping and I-94 valid until Feb 2010. If I were to travel to India before my visa transfer to C is approved, how can I go about it ?

3. At a later point of time, will USCIS ever ask for the approval notice from B (in the form of a RFE), when they are in the process of approving my visa transfer to C ?

[txh1b]

1. Yes provided you have maintained proper status with B and got paid. Hope your transfer to C was filed as a premium case. If not, do so. To be safe, wait for approval from C and then resign from B.
2. yes
3. Not a good idea to travel. Go for PP and then travel.
4. Possible but an approval status online will suffice as a company does not need to provide the approval notice to the employee.