H1B TRANSFER (AFTER EXPIRY) WHILE EXTENSION PENDING

AdvisePlease

New Member
Hello,

I'm on H1B with approved I-140 (approved over 5 yrs ago). Since then have been with same employer A. My H1B has expired recently and an extension was filed before expiration by my current employer A. I'm still awaiting petition approval (normal processing).

There have been some recent situations surfaced with employer A and it doesn't look good to continue with them anymore. I now have an offer from employer B which I want to pursue. I understand that safest way is to get extension approved through employer A via premium processing and then apply for transfer with B. But, I do not want to upgrade to premium with employer A due to recent issues in the company. I do not want to risk the results of the application, given the current situation in the company A.

But here are my questions regarding if I directly go with H1B transfer to new employer B (I will be doing premium processing with them) while extension is pending for employer A

1. I suppose, I can apply for transfer with employer B using bridging process since my petition has already expired and the extension is awaiting results.

1a. How risky is this?

1b. How many years of visa can I expect with employer B?

1c. Does bridging always comes without I-94 on it and do I have to travel outside/ home country and re-enter before working for new employer B?

1d. With bridging, does the result of employer A extension petition in anyway impact H1 transfer with employer B?

2. If I proceed with 1. above, then what happens in the following situations.

2a. If transfer to employer B is approved and I start working, later on my extension with employer A is denied or revoked for any reason? would I then be out of status and cannot work with B as well? I mean does my approved petition with employer B also gets denied/revoked?

3. Would I be able to use my current I-140 from employer A and port to employer B to retain my dates and continue processing GC with them irrespective of my extension gets denied/revoked by employer A after transfer is approved with B?

3a. If I do 3. above. Would there be any impact on my GC processing in future with employer B, if for any reason employer A gets into trouble in future?

4. Do you suggest to start new GC process (really want to avoid this to the amount of time I will be losing 5+ yrs of wait) with employer B to be completely safe. Even in this situation would there be any future issue with my GC due to past association with employer A?

Thank You
 
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