Hi @Anil_Gupta . Could you please help me with the below question?
My husband has recently got h1 b approval on consular processing (applied in premium) from his employer. Since its approved in consular processing he was planning to go to India for visa stamping but before a week he got a full time oppurtunity with the client.
Before his H1 is approved, he is on CPT doing 2nd masters. Is it mandatory for him to go to India for stamping or Can we do H1 transfer now? Is it risky? Please provide your suggestions.
Thanks
Sowmya
Could someone please help us with this question??
Technically, the H1B gets activated only after visa stamping (in case of consular processing) or a change of status happens if the beneficiary is present in the US on another non-immigrant status, for e.g. in your husband’s case a change of status from F1 to H1B.
Once H1B is activated, you can change the employer or an employer can file a new cap-exempt H1B depending on the situation.
As the above has not occurred in your husband’s case, if a new employer files for a cap-exempt H1B, USCIS may deny due to the reason that his H1B was never activated and can’t be counted under cap-exempt.
That said, there have been cases where USCIS has approved cap-exempt H1Bs even if the beneficiary never really activated his/her H1B.
So there is no harm in letting the new employer file a cap-exempt H1B using the copy of I-1797 approval notice of current H1B. The new employer can also file a change is status from F1 to H1B along with the H1B petition so that your husband dont have to go for visa stamping.
@Kalpesh_Dalwadi Thank you so much for your response.
Today morning we got to know that his sevis is terminated and we received an email from his school. They are saying that govt systems are not in sync and once we sent i797 b form (which we didn’t receive in mail yet), she will submit a data fix request and have the record move to active status. I assume he is out of status now and shouldn’t be working. Please correct me if I am wrong.
What are the possible options we have to accept the full time offer? Or should he go back to India?
SEVIS can’t be terminated until his Masters degree or his OPT is over or he gets H1B visa stamp under consular processing. You will need to coordinate with the college DSO to fix the issue in the SEVIS system.
Sure. So once the sevis is fixed we can proceed with the cap exempt h1b with the new employer right?