H1B approved (Not stamped) but no action from employer to proceed.

[anandinus]

Hi,

This is regarding H1B 2016.

I am in a complicated situation. I will simplify my scenario below.

1. Was working from 2012 in a US based multinational company-A, Indian office.

2. In 2014, some part of company (including my division) is acquired by another multinational company-B (They are Europe based company) from company-A.

3. My L1B Blanket visa was stamped in early 2014 for Company A. But I couldn't join the US office because of the acquisition deal between comany-A and Company-B.

4. Company-A told that they cannot proceed with L1B due to the acquisition policies. But Company-A was ready to file H1B for me and did the same for H1B 2016 cap in April 2015.

5. I got selected in H1B lottery and my case is approved two weeks back (But VISA is not stamped on my passport.). I do got a I-797B COPY (Not original) with I-94 from Company-A immigration team.

6. Company acquisition deal is now closed and transition is completed. So now I am an employee of Company-B.

7. Since I am a Company-B employee now, Company-A immigration team is now asking permissions from Company-B management to proceed in H1B stamping process. Hope this is because of the rules in the acquisition deal.

8. In between this, my earlier manager (Company-A) has resigned from company-A last month (August 2015). This manager initiated my case earlier.

9. Now I am not reporting to any US manager in company-A. But Company-B management needs my US reporting manager to proceed.

10. Due to the unavailability of US reporting manager in Company-A, there wont be anyone who can push this process for me in the management level. So Company-B may not go further on this and worried that they would tell to Company-A to withdraw my petition.

I hope the scenario is clear. I have few questions to proceed with H1B approval. They are.

1. If company-B management is not providing permission to company-A to go with this, What are the possible ways to get a position in US.
2. Can I find a new sponsor, company-C and change my Employer before Visa stamping process?
3. If I can proceed with a new employer company-C, is there any Employer-Employee relationship issue to reject my Visa while stamping?
4. Is my H1B visa will only get affected after October 1, 2015? If my current petitioner (Company-A) decided to withdraw my petition before Oct 1 2015, then would it be equal to visa denied and cant go with Company-C without cap exemption.
5. Am I eligible for cap exemption even if my Company-A petition is withdrawn?

Could you suggest possibilities to retain this approved H1B and to get a position in US

Thanks and regards,

[shervin143]

1. If company-B management is not providing permission to company-A to go with this, What are the possible ways to get a position in US.
>>> See if you can transfer your petition to another employer after Oct 1st. In recent times USCIS has started issueing RFEs when a petition is transferred before it gets effective, so transferring before Oct 1st is not an option. Not sure if they will raise an RFE is you try to swicth employers without working for the one who filed the petition under a nrand new CAP.That we'll have to wait and see post Oct 1st. But you can certainly give it a try. This never used to be an issue until last year.

2. Can I find a new sponsor, company-C and change my Employer before Visa stamping process?
>>> Read the above answer. You can try that only after Oct 1st.

3. If I can proceed with a new employer company-C, is there any Employer-Employee relationship issue to reject my Visa while stamping?
>>> That depends on the employer. If they are a consulatncy company and if you will be working at a client location, then USCIS can raise an RFE to prove the Employer-Employee relationship.

4. Is my H1B visa will only get affected after October 1, 2015? If my current petitioner (Company-A) decided to withdraw my petition before Oct 1 2015, then would it be equal to visa denied and cant go with Company-C without cap exemption.
>>> Yes. If the petitioner withdraws the petition before Oct 1st, then you are no longer subjected to CAP. You cannot transfer the petition. You will have to wait until April next year to file a new petition under a brand new CAP.

5. Am I eligible for cap exemption even if my Company-A petition is withdrawn?
>>> Read the above answer.

[sweetrascal]

stamping done successfully??

Was the stamping successfull?