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To make a long story short, my friend's incompetent-jerk-pretending-to-be-a-boss has been sponsoring her H1B visa for at least one year. He required her to work 60--70+ hours w/o health insurance, no sick days and for little pay. As far as I can tell, he skirts serious labor law violations by calling her position a skill position crucial for the success of the company (paraphrasing DOL language) with a salary considered minimum based on DOL prevailing wages, though it really is corporate slave labor.
A few days ago, he told her that tomorrow (June 30) is her last day. He has already removed her from the payroll. He also has apparently forgotten to pay her for the past month, so her paystub may come in late. We do not know whether he has sent in a written form to USCIS to officially revoke her visa status. Thinking that this might happen, she has somehow found a company who recently agreed to sponsor her for an H1-B visa (her I-94 is currently valid and her passport had just been renewed).
The problem is that due to complicated reasons (which take too long to explain) the new company cannot send in the H1-B petition until mid July. Therefore, unless he "forgets" to send in the revocation letter, she could in principle be "out of status" for about 15--20 days or so. While usually incompetent/forgetful, he may have already sent in the letter.
My questions:
- Assuming the worst-case scenario (that she has a 15-20 day gap), what is the *practical likelihood* that USCIS will not "use its discretion" and thereby deny her H1-B transfer?
Does USCIS habitually "use its discretion" to overlook 2--4 week gaps in employment for those on H1-Bs, or is that just wishful thinking?
- I assume that the revocation process takes some time to go through the system. Is there a way for the H1-B transfer application to process faster than the H1-B revocation?
- She's currently dating a US citizen and they are seriously considering getting married. Would it cause green card problems (e.g. look suspicious, trigger audit or even rejection) if they do get married and she files for a spousal green card while she's technically out of status and living in the US?
Yes, her new company has an attorney helping with the H1-B visa transfer petition.
Thank you so, so much for any feedback you can give.
A few days ago, he told her that tomorrow (June 30) is her last day. He has already removed her from the payroll. He also has apparently forgotten to pay her for the past month, so her paystub may come in late. We do not know whether he has sent in a written form to USCIS to officially revoke her visa status. Thinking that this might happen, she has somehow found a company who recently agreed to sponsor her for an H1-B visa (her I-94 is currently valid and her passport had just been renewed).
The problem is that due to complicated reasons (which take too long to explain) the new company cannot send in the H1-B petition until mid July. Therefore, unless he "forgets" to send in the revocation letter, she could in principle be "out of status" for about 15--20 days or so. While usually incompetent/forgetful, he may have already sent in the letter.
My questions:
- Assuming the worst-case scenario (that she has a 15-20 day gap), what is the *practical likelihood* that USCIS will not "use its discretion" and thereby deny her H1-B transfer?
Does USCIS habitually "use its discretion" to overlook 2--4 week gaps in employment for those on H1-Bs, or is that just wishful thinking?
- I assume that the revocation process takes some time to go through the system. Is there a way for the H1-B transfer application to process faster than the H1-B revocation?
- She's currently dating a US citizen and they are seriously considering getting married. Would it cause green card problems (e.g. look suspicious, trigger audit or even rejection) if they do get married and she files for a spousal green card while she's technically out of status and living in the US?
Yes, her new company has an attorney helping with the H1-B visa transfer petition.
Thank you so, so much for any feedback you can give.
