Hey everybody, I'm back with a new problem!
I change my residency program and the new program filed for H1 transfer (regular - not premium). Thanks to H1-cap it was approved in a week as per INS online tracking system, but 1.5 months passed the approval date and the university hasn't received the approval yet.
I called INS a couple of time (to talk with different representatives - my experience is each one usually has something totally different to say!) Anyways, they all confirmed that my H1 was in fact approved and it should have been lost in the mail.
Now for getting the approval notice, some say I can't do nothing and its all the petitioner's responsibility, and some say I can do something. There is some controversy regarding the whole petitioner/beneficiary issue... Most of them say that I should use form I-824 (application for duplicate) and pay a $ 195 (%!@#%#!!) fee, but again, I'm not so sure about it. The other problem is if I send the form and the money, there is still no guarantee that my duplicate approval won't get lost again at the university mail room (they have a very bad reputation - they have lost my other documents there as well)... So the bottom line is, should I use I-824? Who can pay for it (petitioner/beneficiary/3rd person)? And can I put my own mailing address there to prevent it from getting lost again?!
I change my residency program and the new program filed for H1 transfer (regular - not premium). Thanks to H1-cap it was approved in a week as per INS online tracking system, but 1.5 months passed the approval date and the university hasn't received the approval yet.
I called INS a couple of time (to talk with different representatives - my experience is each one usually has something totally different to say!) Anyways, they all confirmed that my H1 was in fact approved and it should have been lost in the mail.
Now for getting the approval notice, some say I can't do nothing and its all the petitioner's responsibility, and some say I can do something. There is some controversy regarding the whole petitioner/beneficiary issue... Most of them say that I should use form I-824 (application for duplicate) and pay a $ 195 (%!@#%#!!) fee, but again, I'm not so sure about it. The other problem is if I send the form and the money, there is still no guarantee that my duplicate approval won't get lost again at the university mail room (they have a very bad reputation - they have lost my other documents there as well)... So the bottom line is, should I use I-824? Who can pay for it (petitioner/beneficiary/3rd person)? And can I put my own mailing address there to prevent it from getting lost again?!