Can I join another company without H1B transfer decision?

USA H1B Visa
1

Hi Saurabh,

I am working on H1B with Company A. Now Company B wants to transfer my visa but does not want to wait for the H1B decision to come, they are asking me to join as soon as they receive the receipt number from USCIS. In this case my questions are as below:

  1. Can Company B put me on their payroll even when H1B transfer is under process? Will it be a legal thing to work for them without an approval?

  2. If the transfer is denied will I be out of status (since Company A would still be holding my visa) ?

  3. Will there be any process to come back to Company A in case my H1B transfer with Company B is denied.

Please advise and I really appreciate all your help that you have extended to me so far.

Thanks!

2

Its really hard to answer. Most of the consultancies used to ask like this… no need to wait till we get the status.we can go with receipt num…Even rejection scenarios also used to be very less in case of H1 transfer. But no one knows about our luck…in worst scenario you might loose job with both A and B. After resigning if A is ready to take you back, then you can proceed now.else I would recommend you to wait till you get the statusbon transferred H1 then go ahead and join in B. Iam suggesting to keep you in a safe side. 1. Running payroll is company’s internal.you check with company B. 2. In this case you can use your A’s H1 (Assume that company A didnt revoked your H1). 3. This will be depending on your company A’s policy.

3

  1. Legally, you can join B as soon as the transfer petition reaches USCIS. So yes, you can join B from that date and stop working for A. The risk (as highlighted by chak123) is that if B’s petition is denied then you will be out of petitions to work on (unless A is ready to hire you back or you move to C)

  2. Refer (1)

  3. If they have not withdrawn the petition and it’s still valid, then you can join them. Else they will have to file new transfer petition for you. Also check w/ A’s willingness to hire you back.

4

Based on my bad experience, i am suggessting you to go for Premimum processing. Once you get the approval resign Company A.

everything is based on luck!!