Employer is holding H1B Copy and passport is expiring

USA H1B Visa
1

Hi Saurabh,

I got my H1B approved in Juky 2012 and since then my employer is holding my h1B copy, he sent someone with H1B copy for applying my SSN, and i somehow managed to take a scan of that copy. But this time my passport is expiring in April 2013, and i said i want to submit my passport for renewal in person at the consulate. He is not sending me the original, and is insisting me to send my passport and all other documents to him, so that he would courier those to consulate. I told him very clearly that i don’t trust him and more over what is the guarantee that he wouldn’t hold my passport too.

Please suggest me with all the alternatives to get my passport renewed. Is there a way i can tell the consulate that my employer is holdin my documents and i cannot produce the originals to them?

Please help!!

2

If you have your passport stamped you may not need I797

3

I donot have stamping on my passport too. :frowning:

4

hey as per the link above you do NOT need the original I797 you can send a notarized copy of the scanned I797 that you already have… Hope this helps and best of luck !!

5

to get that copy notarized, i need the original too :frowning:

6

See if you can file FOIA to get a copy of your approved 797. You can search for “FOIA USCIS” to see the process.

You should try to get away from such an employer ASAP if he can’t even trust you w/ copy of 797 for passport renewal. He seems to be afraid that you will jump the ship as soon as you get 797.