Any implications if refuse to join company after cap exempt petition??

USA H1B Visa
1

Hi Saurabh,

  1. Are there any implications if I refuse to join an employer (A) after they receive H1B cap exempt petition approval? Do they automatically revoke petition once they find out that candidate is not interested in joining. Can they legally claim petition fee from me in that case (premium processing)?

  2. Scenario 1- If I’m talking to company (B) for a job, do I need to legally tell them that another company (A) has also filed for cap exempt petition and they are waiting on approval or can I keep it a secret so they (B) are more interested in hiring me? Do they have any way of finding that out?? Is it legal?

  3. Scenario 2- If A got cap exempt petition approval from USCIS but they are not giving a good job offer, can I approach B and still afford not telling B about A’s approval and ask them to file H1 petition.

  4. Will B be required to buy me out from A in case A has got petition approval or A & B can get their own separate approval from USCIS without knowing about each other in any way? Legit?

  5. Is it up to the employee to choose which company he wants to work with if both A & B have h1 approvals (lottery picked in 2015-h1 visa stamp valid till 2018 but petition has been revoked)

Any implications in terms of consideration by USCIS in future? Any judgement by them regarding the above?

Thanks,

AS

2

  1. They are within their rights to withdraw the petition anytime. They cannot claim any H-1B processing fees from you by law. However, PP fees can be paid by either employee or employer, and they may try to claim it from you.

  2. Yes, B can file a cap-exempt petition for you while you are working for A. A doesn’t need to know about this pending petition.

  3. They will get their own separate approvals and A doesn’t need to know about B’s. B would know about A’s as they would be using A’s petition for cap-exempt purposes.

  4. If you have multiple approved petitions, then you can pick and chose either. Go for stamping using the petition you want to work w/ and then enter US using that petition to work for that employer.

3

Thanks Saurabh,

I’m currently not working for A.
They have just filed for cap exempt petition and are waiting for approval. They used the approval of the 1st company I worked with to file this petition.
I only have a 3 yr h1 stamp on my passport but the associated petition has been revoked by my 1st company. Is my 3 yr visa still considered valid even when the approved petition by 1st company has been revoked?
B would also use my 1st company’s approval to file for H1 petition when time comes just like A.

Can B still find out about A?

4

B won’t know about A in this case. The visa stamp can still be used if it has not been marked as canceled in the passport. 1st employer can withdraw petition anytime but for visa stamp, they need to take custody of your passport, send it to consulate and then have it marked canceled.

Still some employers prefer that you reappear for stamping so that the visa stamp can have their name and its validity dates match the petition dates.