Hi,
I have been approached by a sponsor who is filing H1B(I am on H4) for the first time this year. He is asking $3000 as security deposit which I must transfer into his India account. He says he will provide me with the offer letter and has agreed for a decent salary as per my market value(without technical interview, just looking at my 4+ yr IT exp resume). They are based in India and I have been interacting with them only over phone and emails. They have a website, linkedin profiles and US addresses, but the consultant insists on physical verification of that company only in their India branch.
I am worried if they genuinely will follow up my case till the end in case of an RFE. What do I do if they just ignore my calls and email if we hit the wall?
Can I ask him to show me the client letter he has suiting my profile - before signing the offer letter?
Do you think this can be a fraud? Is there anything else I should check?
Some of them are difficult to work with and many have employment arrangements that can be hard. However the word ‘fraud’ does not apply in such cases. Although they have requested $3,000 as deposit, it still is not an easy money making scheme so chances of them being ‘fly by night’ is minimal. You have the right to ask which client you will be working for, your job description etc so that you know the position being offered has a match with your background. You also have the right to demand support in case an RFE is triggered and get this assurance. Also, physical US address can be verified easily. Please do not share those details here but feel free to email me at sshankar@chu.edu.
All the best
Dr. Sandeep Shankar, Colorado Heights University, Denver, CO 80223, USA. www.chu.edu; sshankar@chu.edu
Anybody asking for deposit is most likely Fraud…H1B costs MUST be borne by employer…
Just be careful with your future. Just check laws on DOL site.