jnk_in Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Hi, I am currently working for company A and I got an offer from company B which is a consulting firm. Company B has filed the H1b transfer in premium and it's not approved yet. Right now I got an offer from Company C which is a US based company for full time hire. I really wanted to move with Company C.Company A doesn't know any of these steps now. So I am getting paid from company A. My questions: 1. Will there be any problem if I go with company C while company B's transfer process is in place? 2. Will this impact my transfer process to company C? 3. Can company B sue me for doing this? The start date for joining company B mentioned in offer letter is March 2nd. Someone please help. Link to comment
jairichi Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 1. No issue. 2. No. 3. Yes, if you have signed anything stating that they can claim damages from you if you do not join them. Link to comment
jnk_in Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Hi, Can someone please help me on this? And forgot to mention I have signed some document from the Company B which says Employer - Employee Contract.They asked me to sign to take things forward and they said its for formality. But the document has a term saying I need to work for them for 18 months, if not I might need to pay damage amount less than or equal to $10000. If I go with Company C, should I need to pay $10000 to Company B? I am in deep trouble. Please help me. Link to comment
wiweq Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Each H1b petition is independent of each other. C won't have filing H1b for you. Unless you have signed any contract with B, they can't sue you for H1b fees. H1b is employer sponsored visa, and only they can pay for this. Just make sure, don't join new employer till your H1b is completely approved. Link to comment
jairichi Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Hi, Can someone please help me on this? And forgot to mention I have signed some document from the Company B which says Employer - Employee Contract.They asked me to sign to take things forward and they said its for formality. But the document has a term saying I need to work for them for 18 months, if not I might need to pay damage amount less than or equal to $10000. If I go with Company C, should I need to pay $10000 to Company B? I am in deep trouble. Please help me. If you have signed that document then you will be liable for damages. Talk to a good labor attorney. Link to comment
jnk_in Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Thanks all for the details. But I have not joined them till now. I am still sticking with my current employer A only. Can the contract gets life even before I join the company B? Please advise. Link to comment
jnk_in Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Company B called me and said they going to file a claim and they will recover the cost of the H1B it seems. They are threatening that I did fraud. And they sent me another email with raise in the salary now. But I dont want to go with them after seeing all these issues with the company B. Link to comment
jnk_in Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Some more details. I live in Texas. I have the below details as terms in the contract. I have not even joined the company B still. will this impact me in anything. Please advise. "The employee understands that employer has invested substantial time and affords and incurred expenses in hiring the employee. As such, employee agrees to work for employer for a minimum period of 18 months. In the event employee terminates this agreement during the first 18 months, employee will reimburse all expenses incurred including lost opportunity costs not to exceed $10,000 to the employer as liquidated damages towards such costs as relocation, recruitment and administrative support. Employee understands and agrees that these expenses are not related to any immigration related fees which employer is solely responsible for." Link to comment
jairichi Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Thanks all for the details. But I have not joined them till now. I am still sticking with my current employer A only. Can the contract gets life even before I join the company B? Please advise. What you are asking is like the following. You have signed a lease agreement for renting a flat and just before moving in you decide not to take that flat. Even though you have not started to live in that flat you are bound by that lease agreement. As I said better talk to a good labor attorney. Link to comment
wiweq Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 What you are asking is like the following. You have signed a lease agreement for renting a flat and just before moving in you decide not to take that flat. Even though you have not started to live in that flat you are bound by that lease agreement. As I said better talk to a good labor attorney. I am sorry but this is not a good analogy. Signing lease agreement bounds you legally to live in apartment for the lease term or pay the penalty to break the lease. Its not same in H1b case. Paying H1b fees, filing H1 for beneficiary is totally employer's burden. Employer is free to revert the offer even after H1b approved/ filed and OP is also free to decide not to join even after H1b approved, filed. I am pretty much sure, H1b fees cannot be included as "damage". OP's note also suggest that employer knows immigration fees cannot be counted as damage. Link to comment
wiweq Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 Some more details. I live in Texas. I have the below details as terms in the contract. I have not even joined the company B still. will this impact me in anything. Please advise. "The employee understands that employer has invested substantial time and affords and incurred expenses in hiring the employee. As such, employee agrees to work for employer for a minimum period of 18 months. In the event employee terminates this agreement during the first 18 months, employee will reimburse all expenses incurred including lost opportunity costs not to exceed $10,000 to the employer as liquidated damages towards such costs as relocation, recruitment and administrative support. Employee understands and agrees that these expenses are not related to any immigration related fees which employer is solely responsible for." Again, the best option for you is to spend couple of hundred dollars and contact an attorney. You may be eligible to sue them back as they threatened you to recover H1b fees which is against the law. After this treat you were psychologically upset and drained into mental trauma. Attorneys know this better. Link to comment
jairichi Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 I am sorry but this is not a good analogy. Signing lease agreement bounds you legally to live in apartment for the lease term or pay the penalty to break the lease. Its not same in H1b case. Paying H1b fees, filing H1 for beneficiary is totally employer's burden. Employer is free to revert the offer even after H1b approved/ filed and OP is also free to decide not to join even after H1b approved, filed. I am pretty much sure, H1b fees cannot be included as "damage". OP's note also suggest that employer knows immigration fees cannot be counted as damage. My analogy is based on the fact that employer is not asking about H1B fee. And, never in my response I have mentioned that employer can claim H1B fee from employee. Link to comment
jairichi Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 Again, the best option for you is to spend couple of hundred dollars and contact an attorney. You may be eligible to sue them back as they threatened you to recover H1b fees which is against the law. After this treat you were psychologically upset and drained into mental trauma. Attorneys know this better. "Recover the cost for H1B" is based on a verbal conversation between OP and employer. I doubt OP will be able to prove that statement. OP's signed document stands. Has to contact a good attorney. Link to comment
jnk_in Posted March 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 After the call from the employer B. I got an email and whatspp message saying that they need to talk to me regarding the visa cost. Link to comment
jairichi Posted March 3, 2015 Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 After the call from the employer B. I got an email and whatspp message saying that they need to talk to me regarding the visa cost. Great. Keep that for your record. Link to comment
jnk_in Posted March 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 Thanks all for the information and help. Do anyone know good labor attorney? I can talk to the attorney on this and get this done. This issue is eating my mind and I am not able to be normal. Appreciate your help. Link to comment
wiweq Posted March 3, 2015 Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 After the call from the employer B. I got an email and whatspp message saying that they need to talk to me regarding the visa cost. Don't talk on phone. Ask them to email you whatever they want. Just make sure make your intent clear. On emails, make sure you are aware of H1b rights and no intent to sue to this employer. If they ask for H1b fees on email, reply them politely that H1b fees can be paid by employer only and you can't pay it. Again make sure don't talk on phone, all in email. If you are not clear with their email, email them something like "As per last email I understand that... .... Please correct me if I am wrong". Once you prepared meet a good immigration attorney, may be Murthy. Update here to let others learn from your experience. Link to comment
H1B_Aspirants Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 did you get this resolved? If so, can you share how did you get this resolved. Link to comment
10451 Mill Run Circle, Suite 100
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.