very urgent...Please Help

[tanikella01]

My husband has a valid h1 till oct 2011 from his employer company A. Company B tookover company A 2 months ago and filed for a H1 transfer to that company B. There was a RFE and the company B is not providing required documentation as they have decided to lay him off.
Please tell me what to do now. If they lay off will the h1 be cancelled or will it be valid . Also how long is the h1 valid in case of a layoff.
Also if company c which is willing to do a h1 transfer files an h1 transfer, by when it should file the transfer. The expected day of layoff is in the first week of jan 10.

Please help us quickly as there is no sufficient time.

[sk4ih]

If laid off, you'll lose status, and become illegal from the next day.
You can start H1 transfer to Company C now, as it takes 2-3 months for approval.

[shervin143]

Answers below.

My husband has a valid h1 till oct 2011 from his employer company A. Company B tookover company A 2 months ago and filed for a H1 transfer to that company B. There was a RFE and the company B is not providing required documentation as they have decided to lay him off. Please tell me what to do now.

If they lay off will the h1 be cancelled or will it be valid.
>>> The company would most probably revoke the H1B petition.

Also how long is the h1 valid in case of a layoff.
>>> H1B petition is valid only when you are employed. There is no grace period. Your husband will go out of status the immediate next day of lay off if he doesn't transfer his H1B to another company.

Also if company c which is willing to do a h1 transfer files an h1 transfer, by when it should file the transfer. The expected day of layoff is in the first week of jan 10.
>>> Need to file it before Jan 10th to maintain the status. Better to file it asap. Approval will take 2-3 months by normal process and 15 days by premium process.

Please help us quickly as there is no sufficient time.

[tanikella01]

But the original validity from company A is till 2011 right, and company B took over the company A. Is it still not valid?

[shervin143]

Read about the last action rule in the forum. The last received I-94 takes precedence over any other I-94 that you have. If the last received I-94 has validity only for a week, then that is the time left for you to file for an extension or to leave the country.

[tanikella01]

What about the status? His RFE is going to expire on 4th jan. Is the h1 from Company A valid because he is not generating any income from that company A? Company B is paying the salary,Or his status will be lost or is there any grace period to submit the documentation?

[shervin143]

Company A's H1B petition remains valid unless they have revoked it. But that H1B petition is of no use if your husband is not working for that company anymore (Since Company A doesn't exist anymore, there is no use with that petition). Upon filing the transfer from Company A to Company B, your husband is eligible to work for Company B (It is not require to wait till the approval). So pay slips from Company B will keep him in status.

Now he can file a transfer from Company B to Company C (Read more about posts related to bridging in the forum). He need to do it before he goes out of status. There is no such grace period. Advisable to go for premium processing.

Check the below link (Last few questions have information about bridging)
https://www.immihelp.com/h1-visa-transfer-faq/

[tanikella01]

Please provide me information regarding the following. Much appreciated.
1) Can we file for the extension for the RFE
2) Also, company B didn't buy company A completely, meaning company A still has its operations continuing with 2 or 3 empoyees left. So since his H1 from company A is still valid can he go back on company A's H1 and payroll and perhaps take an unpaid leave for a month or two? Is this legal and for how long?
3) Finally is there any immigration/legal rule that requires the company B to respond to an RFE? Is there any legal recourse to get them to do that?

Thanks a lot for you replies.

[shervin143]

Answers below.

Please provide me information regarding the following. Much appreciated.
1) Can we file for the extension for the RFE
>>> There is no such thing.

2) Also, company B didn't buy company A completely, meaning company A still has its operations continuing with 2 or 3 empoyees left. So since his H1 from company A is still valid can he go back on company A's H1 and payroll and perhaps take an unpaid leave for a month or two? Is this legal and for how long?
>>> What do you mean by company B not buying company A completely? Is there such a thing as buying it partially? Well, if Company A and Company B are two different companies, then if Company A hasn't revoked the H1B, then you can go back to Company A. However, I am not sure how this works in your case where Company A is been bought by Company B. How is it possible to generate pay slips from a company that doesn't exit any longer (And you are talking about working for them until Oct 2011 - until petition validity)? If Company B has bought Company A, then the first thing it should do is to convert all the employes into Company B's payroll for which H1B transfer/amendment is required H1B candidates.

3) Finally is there any immigration/legal rule that requires the company B to respond to an RFE? Is there any legal recourse to get them to do that?
>>> If they don't respond to the RFE on time, the petition will get denied.

Thanks a lot for you replies.

[tanikella01]

The company A is existing in the sense it is existing for a few months till the take over process is complete. My husband is not generating any paychecks from company A. Company B ran his payroll for the last two months.

If the h1 transfer is rejected because of not responding to RFE is his H1 with the company A still valid and for how long?

Also since company A is not generating any paystubs can he be on unpaid vacation. Is it possible and for how long?