On 7th May, my employer informed that my case was selected through lottery.Next day he sent me scanned copy of form I-797C where I could see my case number.
Although the copy is not quite clear I can clearly see the case number properly(ending with 67).
It went to RFE on 16th Jun and by 16th Jul,the documents for additional proofs were expected to reach attorney or my employer.
on 15th Jul,my employer informed me the case number which I entered is incorrect.According to him it is ending with 47 which I do not believe. I asked him to provide me a clear copy and so far I have got nothing from his side.
The case number which he mentions now has doesnt have an RFE and it is still shows the original status.
Is it that he is lying? And why would he give me anyone else’s case number?
Is there any way to see what is the exact case number associated with my name?
Can we directly contact USCIS or attorney to confirm about it?
Please share your thoughts as I am in very confused state now.
797C has employee name as well. Did you see your name in original 797C?
One has to really look at the notice to see if it is 67 or 47. As for whether employer is lying or not, who knows. You cannot know the details from USCIS - only employer and attorney are the source of information for you.
Hi Saurabh,
Thanks a lot for your response.
The I797 form has all the details e.gcompany name,my full name,date of birth etc.And whoever has seen my receipt has said the number is 67.I don’t know why my employer is telling something else now.It could be because RFE has come to me(67).But then the question is why would he give me anyone elses number.
In case he is misguiding me or cheating me,is there any way at least to get my money back?
Please suggest.
You are in better position to judge whether the employer is lying to you or not, as you are in direct contact w/ them.
If the petition is denied, then nothing is returned from USCIS side. What your employer returns to you, is b/w you and him. By law, employer is required to pay for H-1 fees. So you may use that law to get your money back.
Thanks Suarabh.
In case that happens, whom can I contact to get my money back? I am not getting a proper response from him now and this is what really concerning me.Is there any way I can share the receipt directly with you?
If the employer is not willing to return the money, you can let him know that you are planning to complain to DOL and USCIS about this as taking H-1B fees from the employee is illegal. If the employer still doesn’t respond, then contact the 2 government agencies and file a formal complain.
Hi Saurabh,
My employer has given me a copy for the new case number (47).However, apart from the case number nothing else should have changed.I can see now company address is different as well few lines are missing in the new receipt. So I asked these questions but he said he cannot entertain such questions.
Now I don’t know what could happen next and still I’m confused whether the new receipt he provided is a genuine one.How long should I wait fot him to respond now?
Also the earlier number given(67) is in RFE.I think this is the correct number and probably he doesnt have the required documents. That’s why he is misguiding me I think. TIA.
You can continue to wait to see when one or both petitions gets adjudicated. At that point, you would know for sure if your petition has been approved or not.
If I check the status of the new case number that my employer has given, I see the status as case was received(I-129) on April 11,2016.Since then there is no change in the status.I think this is the initial status that every case has.
Question is, how long the case could be in the same state?
Is there any timeline before which the case is supposed to be move to the next stage?
Also, is it possible that my employer would have filed 2 cases for me? I heard there are some companies in India who files 2 cases for a single person to increase your chances to get picked up in lottery.TIA.
There is no SLA but most of the petitions should move to the next stage by Oct (some may be delayed beyond Oct).
If the employer did file 2 petitions for you, that would be against the H-1B rules and USCIS would deny both petitions. Multiple filings through same employer is not allowed.