H1B RFE from new employer (B) petition transfer

[tu777799]

RFE reason: ‘Previously approved your petition to work for Company(A) at Atlanta, GA location. The documents you have provided suggest that you are working from other location (residence) ’

Employer A :

· I opted and joined Employer A based out of Atlanta, GA on full time basis while am residing at Stanford, CT.

· Employer A, approved H1B 797 petition is valid from Jan 2020 to Dec 2022

· My joining date with employer happened on March 2020 and I started working remote owing to Pandemic crisis and unavoidable situations

· At that point in time there was no communication either from me or employer A (in my case) as Pandemic is global and no requirement from employer A to work onsite, I continued working from my home (Stanford, CT).

· LCA is filed with Atlanta, GA as location

· Payroll from March 2020 is generated based out of Stanford, CT though LCA is filed with Atlanta, GA.

Employer B :

· I was a select for a new FTE job based out of Stanford, CT

· Employer B filed for my H1B transfer and received a RFE in the month of July 2021 with below reason :

‘Previously approved your petition to work for Company(A) at Atlanta, GA location. The documents you have provided suggest that you are working from other location (residence)’


Seeking Clarification :

· Analyzing my case, I sense an Amendment with employer A is the first and immediate correction to be done. Is my understanding correct?

· Amendment with a new LCA filing, location being Stanford, CT (residence address). I have no intent to shift to client location Atlanta, GA in foreseeable future. LCA with my residence should be filed. Is my understanding correct here?

· Am little unclear how with no mention in LCA of my residence location (Stanford, CT) employer A started generating my Payroll which should have been Atlanta, GA. (I never bothered about it as well as am unaware of the LCA and filed address). Will those pose any problem? Am seeking clarification to be on a safer note

· My current I-797 is far away (12/31/2022) from filing any extension, a chance to wait and correct amendment along with filing a next extension is ruled out. This mandates and suggests I should file for Amendment ASAP, isn’t that true?


Feedback:

· Am looking for an expert opinion reviewing my above case and do suggest what should be my next steps and in what order to avoid further mess before I reach to Employer A and Employer B

· However, I would also like to know an if a new amendment is the first fix, will this pose any problem for my future employment or green card processing, if so how and what are they? (guesstimate)

· Given my situation what should I reply back to employer B, is it indicating I cannot transfer to anyother employer unless until my current LCA/Amendment with employer A is fixed. Is that a valid and safe assumption? Also, I cannot join anyother company if this isn’t fixed as the issue remains same (as stated in RFE reason).

[rkk09]

Hi,
Please see my response below.
· Analyzing my case, I sense an Amendment with employer A is the first and immediate correction to be done. Is my understanding correct?
Answer: Yes. But, you will have a problem when you file an Amendment too. First thing you will need to take action is to correct your Payroll address.
· Amendment with a new LCA filing, location being Stanford, CT (residence address). I have no intent to shift to client location Atlanta, GA in foreseeable future. LCA with my residence should be filed. Is my understanding correct here?
Answer: Yes. You will need to file an LCA with your home address. This is doable.
· Am little unclear how with no mention in LCA of my residence location (Stanford, CT) employer A started generating my Payroll which should have been Atlanta, GA. (I never bothered about it as well as am unaware of the LCA and filed address). Will those pose any problem?
Answer: Of course Yes. It will run a risk. Your work location must be covered with LCA. If not, your new work location must be commutable distance of previous LCA Address.
· My current I-797 is far away (12/31/2022) from filing any extension, a chance to wait and correct amendment along with filing a next extension is ruled out. This mandates and suggests I should file for Amendment ASAP, isn’t that true?
Answer: Yes. You will need to file an Amendment very soon. But, When you file an Amendment, you will be also including current paystubs which will make an issue again.
· However, I would also like to know an if a new amendment is the first fix, will this pose any problem for my future employment or green card processing, if so how and what are they?
Answer: If you get Amendment approval, you will not have any issues.

Note: You will need to immediately contact Immigration Attorney for further step. You will surely need their help on this situation.
Thanks

[tu777799]

Hi,
Please see my response below.
· Analyzing my case, I sense an Amendment with employer A is the first and immediate correction to be done. Is my understanding correct?
Answer: Yes. But, you will have a problem when you file an Amendment too. First thing you will need to take action is to correct your Payroll address.
· Amendment with a new LCA filing, location being Stanford, CT (residence address). I have no intent to shift to client location Atlanta, GA in foreseeable future. LCA with my residence should be filed. Is my understanding correct here?
Answer: Yes. You will need to file an LCA with your home address. This is doable.
· Am little unclear how with no mention in LCA of my residence location (Stanford, CT) employer A started generating my Payroll which should have been Atlanta, GA. (I never bothered about it as well as am unaware of the LCA and filed address). Will those pose any problem?
Answer: Of course Yes. It will run a risk. Your work location must be covered with LCA. If not, your new work location must be commutable distance of previous LCA Address.
· My current I-797 is far away (12/31/2022) from filing any extension, a chance to wait and correct amendment along with filing a next extension is ruled out. This mandates and suggests I should file for Amendment ASAP, isn’t that true?
Answer: Yes. You will need to file an Amendment very soon. But, When you file an Amendment, you will be also including current paystubs which will make an issue again.
· However, I would also like to know an if a new amendment is the first fix, will this pose any problem for my future employment or green card processing, if so how and what are they?
Answer: If you get Amendment approval, you will not have any issues.

Note: You will need to immediately contact Immigration Attorney for further step. You will surely need their help on this situation.
Thanks

Thanks rkk09 for reply. I had a talk with attorney.
I inform to company B to withdraw my petition and relocating to base location Atlanta, GA with immediate effect.
However, I have one more question, in between Company A is planning to bring me back to their Stamford, CT office due to their business need. Company A is planning to file new LCA with Stamford, CT as well as Home Office (Residence) location. After that they are planning to file the amendment. My question is that still I need to go for base location Atlanta, GA to pay slip or still require pay slip for new LCA with amendment including I-129 from will solve my problem ?

[rkk09]

Hi,
Please see my response.
My question is that still I need to go for base location Atlanta, GA to pay slip or still require pay slip for new LCA with amendment including I-129 from will solve my problem ?
Answer: You need to relocate to LCA location immediately and change your address in the paystub too. Once you there and get paid with LCA location then you can think about migrating new location and file an Amendment. Unless you change address in the paystub as per LCA location, you can not resolve the problem.
Thanks