URGENT HELP - 7th year H1B Extension filed and RFE received

[LochFyne]

Hello Attorneys, Experts and Seniors,

Recently my employer has filed for H1B Extension (7th Year - based on I-140 approval) and we have received an RFE notice from USCIS. The RFE is about "Right-To-Control" and we have to submit the Client Manager letter and SOW/PO/MSA documents in response. My current assignment (contract-to-hire) ends on "03/31/2013" and the SOW ("Statement of Work") agreement is written with the Client until "03/31/2013". There are chances that my contact will get extended thru 2013 year end. The Client Manager has issued a letter with the project end date as "03/31/2013" and nothing is mentioned about the contract (project) renewal, thats because the Client Company will strictly follow the current SOW made and hence mentioned the project end date to "03/31/2013" as per the Corporate Policy. When I requested to change the project end date to 2013 year end as there are chances of contract renewal, the Client is not agreed as per the Corporate Policy. I have also requested to atleast mention the possibility of contract (SOW) renewal in the letter, but then also the Client is not agreed as per the Corporate Policy. So I have to submitted the Client letter (as received from the Client Manager) to our Immigration team. They have reviewed the Client letter and mentioned that the project end date is "03/31/2013" and there are only 4 months left from now for project end. They are concerned that there is very short period mentioned for the project in the Client letter and there are (high) chances of my H1B Extension rejection. They have mentioned that, USCIS may approve/reject the H1B Extension petition based on the very short period (project duration) as mentioned in the Client letter. They suggested to request the Client Manager and get the letter with project end date for atleast 1 year period. But the Client Manager is helpless as per the Corporate Policy. Now we have to proceed with the letter as issued by the Client Manager and try my luck.

I am very much discouraged with our Immigration team's review. Also I am concerned of the H1B Extension rejection as they have mentioned. I have few questions in this regard:

1.Is it mandatory to mention atleast 1 year project duration in the Client Letter (or SOW/PO/MSA) while applying for the H1B Extension petition or while responding to RFEs?

2.What are the chances of H1B Extension approval or rejection in my case?

3.I think, there would be some cases where the applicants have filed for H1B Extension and their assignment (project contract) ending in couple of months (< 6 months). Would USCIS reject the petitions in this case?

4.I think, its not mandatory to have the applicants always be in long term projects (1 to 2 years) at the time of H1B Extension filing. USCIS may check if the applicant is currently employed and is put in a project (assignment) at the time the H1B Extension is filed. If USCIS suspects, they will call the Client (Manager/Supervisor) to verify the details. Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

I have been in tension and very concerned after reading our Immigration team's review and not sure if the Client letter (as received) will work for the RFE. Kindly go thru my questions above and let me know the details. Thanking you very much in advance.

[rahul412]

1.Is it mandatory to mention atleast 1 year project duration in the Client Letter (or SOW/PO/MSA) while applying for the H1B Extension petition or while responding to RFEs?

2.What are the chances of H1B Extension approval or rejection in my case?

3.I think, there would be some cases where the applicants have filed for H1B Extension and their assignment (project contract) ending in couple of months (< 6 months). Would USCIS reject the petitions in this case?

4.I think, its not mandatory to have the applicants always be in long term projects (1 to 2 years) at the time of H1B Extension filing. USCIS may check if the applicant is currently employed and is put in a project (assignment) at the time the H1B Extension is filed. If USCIS suspects, they will call the Client (Manager/Supervisor) to verify the details. Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

1.USCIS approves the petition based on the length of the project. If someone got extended for 3 yrs it doesn't mean that you should get it. Their are some cases where FTE got approved for 2 yrs.

2.very less chances of approval( I am not discouraging you, its fact)

3.May be or may not

4.No, it's always better to have long term projects during the petition approval.

After working on H1 for more than SIX years, I still don't understand why people work for the third parties.