Consultancies queries

USA H1B Visa
1

I have valid H1-B Visa until end of 2018 through my company A(CMMI Level 5). But there are no projects in present company.

Recently few consultancies contacted me, they are saying the following process.

I should travel to US without any transfer, which means I will travel with company A petition and Visa. They will look after the travelling expenses. They are promising that they will get me a job by refining my profile and posting them to their clients. As soon as I get a job, with that valid Client letter, they will initiate the transfer.

I should keep long leave in my current company to undergo this process.

Kindly suggest me if I can go ahead with this process.In which I have the below queries:

  1. I heard that payroll should run when you enter US with H1-B. When I shoot the same question to consultancy guy, he mentioned that, it is not required for the first 180 days. Is that true?

  2. Is that fine to travel with other Petitioner name?

Regards

2

Yes, this is okay 99% of the time. The only concern is if company A has been blacklisted for some reason by USCIS. But I doubt if a CMMi Level 5 company should have that problem.

Best wishesDr. Sandeep Shankar, hopehumanityATgmail.com; wwwDOThopeforhumanityglobalDOTorg

3

So, the payroll is not required for first 180 days?

4

I disagree w/ Dr. Shankar’s response here. Your potential new employer is either unaware of immigration laws or is trying to knowingly abuse them.

  1. You should not enter US using A’s petition if you intent to not work for them. A should be willing to invite you to work in US, if you want to enter on A’s petition. If not, then B should get their own petition approved first and later you can enter on B’s petition and A’s visa stamp. It is ok to use A’s visa stamp, but you cannot use A’s petition.

  2. There is no grace period or benching allowed on H-1. So that 180 day buffer doesn’t exist. If you enter US using B’s petition then you need to work for them from day 1 and get paid. If not, you will not be maintaining legal status and put your immigration status in jeopardy.

5

STOP RIGHT THERE!!!

You are being conned. This is the way most desi consultancies operate and this is ILLEGAL. Before you jump into this mess and make a mockery of your life, please read below points:

  • Who would you name your employer at the POE? If officer calls up company A and they say they never called you, you could LAND IN JAIL.

  • If POE officer grills you and suspects fraud, your visa will get cancelled with prejudice. This means you will most likely NEVER get a USA visa again. Potentially, other western nations visa as well.

  • Let’s say you escape POE checks, now your new employer will not file for a new 797 until they ( or actually yourself) find a job for you. This could take months. Rampant fraud has caused many employers to not hire new H1b people at all. All this while you would be without pay cheque and OUT OF STATUS accumulating against your name. This will be a MAJOR headache if 5 years down the line you do get a genuine opportunity to travel to US.

  • You might end up asking money from known people in US or doing wire transfer from India. Your employer will not pay you a dime.

  • Payroll is REQUIRED if you enter in H1 status.

  • A company that is not willing to file for I797 before you land will have equally horrible marketing team or no team at all. Bear this in mind. You are on your own, in a foreign land.

  • Ask your new employer to send you an invitation email from official email account. You will never hear back from them.

  • “Refining your profile” is euphemism for faking your resume. If you are QA, you will end up being a top notch big data developer within 1 month :slight_smile: If you are already a top notch developer, they might make you a rocket scientist for NASA. Even if you land a job, client will fire you within 30 days as obviously you will not be able to perform as expected.

  • If in this 6 month period you fall sick; you are SCREWED. Desi will not sponsor your insurance and hospital bill would be enough to make your next generation suffer.

  • If by chance you get a job within 6 months, your extension will be denied three years down the line because you were out of status for 6 months. Consular officer will grill you over this.

  • Since your status is all screwed up, you will need to stick with Desi consultancies forever. Also, you will dread coming back on leave to India lest you get caught again at the POE. Essentially, you are earning yourself 3 years jail time.

  • These kind of companies most likely will not give you pay stubs as well. You can forget about H1 transfer again.

  • Once you land in US, they will make you pay for the new H1 again. You will have no option but to comply or fly back to India after screwing your status and no $$ at all.

  • With all above said, also consider that with such pathetic employer you would be lucky to get projects for 6 months of a year on an average. This means your will only earn for 1 and half years in next three years. The savings will be less than whatever you will save in India. If the tech you work on has a hourly rate of 100$ you will earn 50$. Please do the maths yourself.

  • Your relatives won’t get B2 VISAs as your tax records will be all screwed up. So, showing you parents a foreign land isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

  • With such shady consultancies, always a chance of any of their employee complaining to DOL, so expect a raid at anytime. This means the owner lands in jail. I don’t know what happens to such employees in guest house though.

  • Don’t expect good beds/condition in “guest houses”. 20 something people would be already staying there and you will end up cleaning, washing just like every one else. Such cheap employer obviously wont hire help for the fear of getting reported.

  • Lastly, if you bear through all this for 6 years in the hope that one day you will get a green card, know that green card will mostly get denied for such fake employers.

If however, you would like to pursue, ask any employer to first get the new I797 and then you will fly. There is simply no other legal way.

I have so much more to say but not enough patience…

May the force and the brains be with you!!

6

Thanks for elaborating the issues what I would have face, If I would have risked my current happy life.

Thank you very much