H1 Transfer immediately after getting a H1

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bhartiya_12

Registered Users (C)
I got my H1 visa stamped last week in India.

I am still in India and want to change to a new employer as soon as I come back and am actively pursuing job leads to find a new job. Assuming I find a new job as soon as I come back, I want to transfer my H1 asap.

I have 2 questions.

1. I want to know if changing to the new job immidiately after coming here is possible or not and if my current H1 employer could cause some issues once I apply for a transfer. Apart from the usual H1 application is there anything specific I would need to transfer. Someone told me that if you transfer before the first paystub is generated with an employer the process is slightly easier and does not fall under the H1B cap.

2. Also will this will be considered my 2nd H1 or 1st H1 since I already had an H1 which expired in Jan but had to get a new one instead of an extension/transfer due to the mess up.

I am still in India and want to know if this is feasable. I am talking to potential employers from here in India and want to know if this can be done as many of them are asking him about H1, start date etc and unless I know if this is possible I am not able to give them a clear answer.

Thanks
 
1. It is possible. That opinion is crock, without a paystub proving that this is H1 transfer is going to be hard for you.

2. What do you mean first or second h1 and what mess up?
 
Answering your first query, So you suggest that I wait until I have a few pay stubs generated and then transfer. Right? If I don't want to wait for a few paystubs can I not prove that it is a transfer since I have the H1 application to immigration, approval notice, visa etc from this company?

Your second query answer is as follows:

By first or 2nd H1 I mean the following:

I had an H1 which expired in Jan with an employer. My new employer forgot my last date on my first H1 and therefore did not apply before that date for me to be able to extend/transfer. Once this new employer realized that the last dat of my first H1 had passed and my application for an extension/transfer was not filed, they filed for a fresh H1 for me few days after the last date of my 1st H1. So technically this was a fresh H1 application instead of being a transfer/extension which is what it should have been and I would have got an I94 in that case alongwith the approval.

When this new h1 was approved I did not get a I94 since they applied as a fresh case and not as a transfer/extension. I therefore had to come to India and get visa stamped which I did few days back.

This is the messe up.

Now I am not sure if this H1 I currently have is my 2nd H1 and I only get the 3 years in H1 status or is it my 1st H1 and I get 6 years in H1 status.
 
In reply to your second query:

From what you just mentioned above, you have already utilized a part of your H1 period on your previous H1 visa (you did not mention how long were you on your previously expired H1)

Anyways, just subtract that period from 6 years and that is what your new H1 should be valid for.

It doesnt matter how many new H1 visas you get approved, the clock does not restart with a new H1, unless you spend more than 1 year out of the U.S., otherwise the total amount of years will be only 6.

In reply to your first query:

Most people will give different views on this query, since there aren't any clearly outlined rules about H1 transfers that take place at the "very beginning" of a newly issued H1 approval. To quote Attorney Rajiv Khanna from an earlier post on a different forum on this website, this is how he replied to this question:

"If you converted from another status to H-1 from within USA, you should be deemed in status for 60 days after approval even if there is no pay stub. If you came from outside USA on H-1, the period is 30 days from the date you entered. After the 30-60 days period, you must have paystubs for the time you worked.

Even here CIS could raise issues but this is how I read the law."

Hope this helps
 
Last edited by a moderator:
1. I want to know if changing to the new job immediately after coming here is possible
------- Don’t do that join the employer who filed H1, get 2-3 recent pay stubs then apply for H1 transfer
2. or not and if my current H1 employer could cause some issues once I apply for a transfer.
----- Current H1 employer can revoke the H1 any time
3. Apart from the usual H1 application is there anything specific I would need to transfer.
------ Recent pay stubs
 
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