I’m in a unique situation and need advise, I was approached by a US employer in December 2018 for hiring and H1B sponsorship. After series of evaluations and interviews i was selected and they offered me around $100K annual which i accepted. This is first time in i got an offer with H1B sponsorship.
They processed my case under premium processing and were excellent in communication. Within April i was informed that i have been selected and by mid May they sent me my i-797B form stating my approval. I was asked to wait for their signal to apply visa and i agreed. Petition is valid till May 2020.
A month back they approached me and now asking to change the terms of agreement and downgrading salary to around $70K before they allow me to apply for visa. This is strange and I didn’t agreed this proposal.
Can you please advise, what are my options and can i go with another employer or it is THE END for me. Please note i am new to H1B process and have no personal friends available for advise.
Any employer is liable to pay a minimum of prevailing wages(which are mentioned on the LCA of the H1B petition). If you know the prevailing wages on your labor and its more than what they want to pay you, you can request to meet that prevailing wages. If not, there is no binding for them to pay you what you want and you dont have binding to work for them. You can find another employer who can pay the amount acceptable for you.
Thanks a lot for your response. Basically i dont have any LCA document, I only have i-797B physical copy, 2 pages which do not contain any such details regarding minimum salary. i have couple of questions based on your reply.
Does new employer needs to file a new H1B petition of current approved petition can be used?
Is it normal that an applicant changes employer before visa stamping process based upon reasoning i have, how USCIS or immigration sees this?
They are mandated to provide you LCA copy. You can ask for the LCA, it would have the wage details. You cannot be paid below that. Read What is LCA ? Salary info
New employer need to file for transfer. But, again this is tricky because you never had H1B status yet…so, it is grey area for H1B transfer eligibility.
No, it is not normal. It is suggested to transfer only after October 1st, or having H1B status by either stamping or working for the employer.
Thanks a lot Kumar, Almost all the questions in my mind are clear. One last thing in response to
( 1. New employer need to file for transfer. But, again this is tricky because you never had H1B status yet…so, it is grey area for H1B transfer eligibility.)
If a new employer apply for transfer after October 1st than my petition will be assessed again or it will be transferred straight away? I mean can my petition still be rejected? assuming next employer is very credible with respect to past H1B sponsorships.
It is not about being rejected, it is about being subject to Cap. As you know we have H1B Lottery, for you to be counted in cap, you need to have the H1B status, either by working for a company or at least getting H1B stamped…This is the grey area part, where USCIS has in the past approved petitions without working for company or even having stamping…but, lately they are questioning that part…so, slightly grey area…All of it is for the counting towards cap for filing the transfer.