Repay H1B Cost if leaving early?

B

BurnHard

Registered Users (C)
Employer A sponsored my H1B Visa, I've been employed with them for 8 months. I've been disappointed by the work environment, have looked for new jobs, have accepted an offer from company B, and have given 2-week notice to company A.

Company A's contract stated that I would have to repay the cost of the H1B application (fees & lawyer) if I left voluntarily within 2 years. I didn't give it much thought at the time since I didn't see myself quitting within 2 years, but now it matters...

Is that part of the contract legal & enforceable?
I found this on google, but have no sources:

"The short answer is no, as an H1-B employee any contract provision for reimbursement of immigration related fees, including an H1-B petition, are unenforceable under the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA)."

Any more details. anything I can use to convince company A?

Thanks!
 
BurnHard said:
Employer A sponsored my H1B Visa, I've been employed with them for 8 months. I've been disappointed by the work environment, have looked for new jobs, have accepted an offer from company B, and have given 2-week notice to company A.

Company A's contract stated that I would have to repay the cost of the H1B application (fees & lawyer) if I left voluntarily within 2 years. I didn't give it much thought at the time since I didn't see myself quitting within 2 years, but now it matters...

Is that part of the contract legal & enforceable?
I found this on google, but have no sources:

"The short answer is no, as an H1-B employee any contract provision for reimbursement of immigration related fees, including an H1-B petition, are unenforceable under the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA)."

Any more details. anything I can use to convince company A?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
You don't have to repay H1B petition fee or Lawyer fees that is supposed to be paid by employer, nobody forced employer to file H1 Petition for you.
Join the new employer AFTER H1 transfer gets approved. USCIS is asking lot of documents or sends RFE mostly for the H1 transfer filed by H1 consulting companies.
** you can show your contract to any lawyer or new company lawyer.
 
ginnu said:
You don't have to repay H1B petition fee or Lawyer fees that is supposed to be paid by employer, nobody forced employer to file H1 Petition for you.
Join the new employer AFTER H1 transfer gets approved. USCIS is asking lot of documents or sends RFE mostly for the H1 transfer filed by H1 consulting companies.
** you can show your contract to any lawyer or new company lawyer.
Click to expand...

Transfer is not from/to/through a consulting company. Both Company A & Company B are 'end user' companies - I'd be working directly on Company B's projects.

I'm contacting an immigration attorney to obtain more detail on my rights and might have the attorney draft a letter to Company A reminding them of my rights. Thanks for the heads up!
 
Inform them that H1b related costs are legally employer's responsibility and that you will report to Department of Labor and USCIS if they continue to harass you.
 
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