Need advice on H1B/GC

[draghav]

I am in 6th year of H1B visa which expires in June 2012. To continue to stay beyond the stipulated 6 years, my employer filed my labor application under PERM in EB2 category and has received an approval. He also had the paperwork ready for the I-140 which if filed under premium category would get the approval in 2 weeks and give me a 3 year extension on my existing H1B.

1. Unless there is a written agreement between the employer and employee by law who is supposed to pay for the GC process?

2. Also my employer paid for my H1B extension to recapture time spent outside US and get me time till June 2012.

I am leaving my employer and have accepted an offer for a new opportunity. My employer wants me to pay for all the expenses involved in H1B extension/ GC labor/ I-140.

There was no such clause in my existing employer's offer letter saying that employees resigning would have to bear the costs involved for immigration matters.

Does my employer have any validity to his claims?

Thank you.

[JoeF]

By law, the employer has to pay for the PERM, including all lawyer costs related to that.

For the H1, some parts also have to be paid by the employer.

The employer can not get reimbursed for this in any way or form, neither directly nor indirectly.

Who pays for the rest is up to an agreement between employer and employee. If there is no such agreement, the employee is not responsible for employer-incurred costs.

The I-485 is your application, so an employer may not want to pay for that, and the employer can't file that without your signature, anyway.

[karanmokati]

The employer cannot claim any expenses incurred as part of the PERM filing by law, from its employees. For all other charges including H1 and I-140, its upto you guys to decide.

[draghav]

I am in 6th year of H1B visa which expires in June 2012. To continue to stay beyond the stipulated 6 years, my employer filed my labor application under PERM in EB2 category and has received an approval. He also had the paperwork ready for the I-140 which if filed under premium category would get the approval in 2 weeks and give me a 3 year extension on my existing H1B.

1. Unless there is a written agreement between the employer and employee by law who is supposed to pay for the GC process?

2. Also my employer paid for my H1B extension to recapture time spent outside US and get me time till June 2012.

I am leaving my employer and have accepted an offer for a new opportunity. My employer wants me to pay for all the expenses involved in H1B extension/ GC labor/ I-140.

There was no such clause in my existing employer's offer letter saying that employees resigning would have to bear the costs involved for immigration matters.

Does my employer have any validity to his claims?

Thank you.

Thank you for the prompt replies. My employer is asking on good faith basis to reimburse green card related costs? Can anyone shed light on what are the fees that can be payed by employee. There are certain components that must be payed by employer like PERM.

Also the employee can pay for the premium H1B extension fees.

Thank you.

[vvijayan]

I guess you would need a copy of the I140 from the current employer if you need to port the priority date. Would he file for your I140 now that he knows your intention to transfer employment ? If it was already filed would he hand over the paper work ? You may want to check on these points.