Did not join employer-A who sponsered H1B, still status changed H1B. Can I transfer to current employer

Hi All,

I graduated in May 2017 from a university in the US. Accepted an offer from employer-A in Jan 2017. Employer-A applied for H1B and got selected in lottery. Later I got an offer from Employer-B. I told employer-A hiring manager that I will not be able to join. Also, when asked for H1B consequences of not joining employer-A with law firm of employer-A, they told that H1B will be withdrawn. Hence, I assumed that I will have OPT status and joined employer-B.

Recently(20th Nov 2017), I landed on India for 2 weeks of vacation. When I asked my university for new I20 with travel signature, found out that my status has changed. Apparently, employer-A has not withdrawn H1B. Immediately contacted law firm of employer-A and requested not to withdraw H1B, as that would make me out of immigration status. The were understanding and told that they will not withdraw H1B.

To sum up, I did not join employer who filed for H1B, however the status changed to H1B. I want to know what are my options now

  1. Can I ask my university to give back OPT status?

  2. Can employer-B law firm transfer H1B from employer-A? I do not have any paystub with employer-A. In USCIS , the status of the application is “Case Was Received” . Also, I have soft copied of I-129 and I-797C/A(Only soft copies, no hard copy). If a petition is filed from employer-B for transfer, what are the chances of it being successful? Also, if petition gets approved, will there be further hurdle at consulate during VISA interview? Also, can the transfer be done while I am in India?

Please help me with this situation

Thank you