H1B : Transfer pending

[smithak15]

Here is my case:

 

1. I left job at employer A and joined employer B on September 17, 2014. Been working with employer B since then. Applied visa transfer to B on September 16, 2014.

 

2. Service request was filed on Feb 19th, 2015. Another service request filed on April 3, 2015

 

3. USCIS issued RFE on April 9th, 2015. I requested my attorney to upgrade to PP, but the attorney suggested we give USCIS few weeks before upgrading to PP to save premium processing fee. (And I listened to them).

 

4. May 8th - I travelled to India for my wedding, on the recommendation of the attorney that it is safe to fly.

 

5. May 26th - Attorney upgraded the case to Premium processing. (He was not aware of PP being suspended, though USCIS sent out a notice on May 19th, saying they will suspend from May 26th). We got a confirmation/receipt for this from USCIS.

 

6. June 11th - Contacted USCIS regarding why a decision has not been made since 15 days of upgrading to PP was over(Attorney still not aware of PP suspension for H1B). Was supposed to join back work on June 8th, 2015. USCIS refunded PP fee on June 10th.

 

7. June 15th - Premium processing with consular notification filed via paper. The same was sent back to the attorney June 22nd, 2015 saying they can't upgrade to PP.

 

Now I am stuck in India, unable to work, with LOP and unsure about the decision. The attorney just asks me to wait until July 27th when the PP suspension will be revoked. He says the regular processing must be completed by then.

 

My question is:

 

1. Is there anything else that can be done to find out the cause of delay?

 

2. Is there any other way to upgrade to Premium processing?

 

3. Can we request USCIS to reason out the delay since it was not processed under normal processing times?

[jairichi]

You have an excellent attorney.

1. Your attorney (at least this time ask employer to find a good one) can raise a service request.

2. Yes, from July 26th.

3. Can try but mostly you will not get an answer.