Happy new year everyone!
I'm in a complicated position and I need some advice.
Here's me story:
I am getting married in a little over 2 weeks here in the US to my girlfriend of 4 years (who is a US citizen). I just discovered from HR yesterday that the company lawyer had *accidentally* put the expiration date on my h1b petition as 11/3/09 instead of 09/23/2010. As a result, my H1b was terminated on 11/3. Unfortunately I was not made aware of any of this until HR told me yesterday.
When I re-entered the US in nov 2007 I was with a different company (let's call them company A) and was switching from F1 OPT to H1B. My I-94 was stamped with a 9/23/2010 expiry date. I'm not sure if my old I-94 is even valid anymore since my h1b was transferred to company B. This company never informed me of their mistake nor did they give me my h1b approval notice and new I-94.
According to HR, the company lawyer has been constantly working with USCIS in order to correct the situation. They first applied for an H1b amendment in order to fix the expiration date issue but USCIS denied it and said that the company will have to file a brand new petition. The company lawyer says that my status should be "fine" for now since they have been appealing to USCIS for quite a while now and I have been on payroll.
That said, here are my questions:
1) Am I out of status or illegal right now?
2) Is the I-94 from my first h1b entry into the US with company A still valid?
2) If the firm applies for a new H1b for me now, will it be subject to quota?
3) My fiancee is a US citizen. We intend to file for my greencard paperwork after the wedding. Will that process have to be put on hold until the h1b issue is sorted out?
Thanks in advance for all your help.
I'm in a complicated position and I need some advice.
Here's me story:
I am getting married in a little over 2 weeks here in the US to my girlfriend of 4 years (who is a US citizen). I just discovered from HR yesterday that the company lawyer had *accidentally* put the expiration date on my h1b petition as 11/3/09 instead of 09/23/2010. As a result, my H1b was terminated on 11/3. Unfortunately I was not made aware of any of this until HR told me yesterday.
When I re-entered the US in nov 2007 I was with a different company (let's call them company A) and was switching from F1 OPT to H1B. My I-94 was stamped with a 9/23/2010 expiry date. I'm not sure if my old I-94 is even valid anymore since my h1b was transferred to company B. This company never informed me of their mistake nor did they give me my h1b approval notice and new I-94.
According to HR, the company lawyer has been constantly working with USCIS in order to correct the situation. They first applied for an H1b amendment in order to fix the expiration date issue but USCIS denied it and said that the company will have to file a brand new petition. The company lawyer says that my status should be "fine" for now since they have been appealing to USCIS for quite a while now and I have been on payroll.
That said, here are my questions:
1) Am I out of status or illegal right now?
2) Is the I-94 from my first h1b entry into the US with company A still valid?
2) If the firm applies for a new H1b for me now, will it be subject to quota?
3) My fiancee is a US citizen. We intend to file for my greencard paperwork after the wedding. Will that process have to be put on hold until the h1b issue is sorted out?
Thanks in advance for all your help.
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