Employer Cheated

[Harish Mullapudi]

I'm being cheated by my employer and I want to bring this employer to the court of Law. I'll explain my situation clearly, and please don't feel it as a long story, please read it patiently and help me.

Note : I'm on OPT(Optional Practical training) STEM extension at present.

In February I was working for a company 'A' through a consulting firm 'C1'. I was approached by another consulting firm 'C2' and offered me a job in Company 'B'. This means that I have to work for Company B through the consulting firm C2.

Since I'm on OPT STEM extension, so I need a H1B sponsorship this year. So the consulting firm C2 asked me to pay my H1B fees and told me that they will return the fee amount after completing 9 months with them. Since it is too early for asking the consulting firm C2 to sponsor me H1B, so I agreed that I will pay my H1B fee of 3800$. I told them that I'll pay the amount in two parts, and on March 15th I paid the first part of 1900$ and I should pay the remaining at the end of this month.

Now(March 29th) they are asking me to sign a bond that says " the company C2 has paid some expenses on me which is around 10,000$ and I have to work with them for at least 12 months. If in case I don't work for that period then I should pay them that 10,000$ back".

They are also saying that they don't return me the "attorney fees" which is around 1500$. This means that if I pay my H1B Processing fee of 3800$, then I'll get only 2300$ back.

I want to reject this. But if I do so, I'll lose 1900$ which I paid as first installment. More than that, I have very very less time to apply for H1B. So I have to find a new job immediately, at least in a month, and apply for H1B, which seems almost impossible. But I'm ready to try for it.

The reason why I posted this topic is,

1. Is there any exemption in the H1B rules that says the employee should pay his attorney fees when his H1B is being processed by the Company. Also did I do anything against the law?

2. I want to complain it to ICE and FBI. Can I go to their office, instead of complaining through phone? I only have minimum proofs for the things that happened, but I guess I can prove my point with those.

3. Also, I want to know if I can file a case in the court and bring this fraud company out into the public and want to make sure that no other company will try to do like this to any of it's employees.

4. For all this stuff, I know I should spend some amount from my pocket, like attorney fee etc. So can I get any attorney who charge me the fees only after case completion?

5. Also can I sue that company C2 for all the damages incurred? And can I get any Visa status protection from the government, if I lose my status?

[JoeF]

Why in the world did you even agree to pay the H1 fees???

That is not allowed, and has been discussed here and in lots of other places for a long long time.

So, you are as guilty as the employer. You need to learn that you also need to follow the law.

For the money paid, you can file a complaint with DOL on form WH4.

And the next time, do NOT NOT NOT pay any money for an H1.

A real employer doesn't ask for money. Only shady employers do.

[Harish Mullapudi]

to be clear, the state is California. and my employer hasn't paid even a single penny on me. But they mentioned in the bond that they spent 10000$ on me.

[0407]

H1B cap will exhaust within few days in April. Your best bet at this point is get H1B

sign the paper and then sue them after getting H1B. These bonds are not valid

in court of law. My 2 cents

[wiweq]

Paying H1b fees be employee is against the law. By doing this, you have participated in illegal activity. What kind of justice do you want? Still if you want you should call to ICE (www.ice.gov), and let them know about this fraud.

[t75]

Attorney fees are among the few that can be paid by the employee. You will not get any protection from filing suit against your employer.

You need a whole lot of evidence - and money - to pursue a law suit. For this type of case you should expect to pay your attorney in full up front since the return is very small.

Your best bet is to consult an attorney and file with the DOL

[Harish Mullapudi]

When I was paying the first part of amount, I was unaware of the fact that it is illegal to pay to the employer. I guess it was neither mentioned in DOL nor in USCIS, or atleast I missed that section where it was mentioned.

After doing some web research and looking into these forums, I came to know that it was illegal to pay the fee, and it was then I realized that I was going against law. It was a mistake I'm unaware of, and now I don't want to repeat it. So I dropped my idea of paying the next part of amount. Also I want to complain about consulting firms like these who are playing tricks with their employees.

What is the legal way I should take now? Please suggest. That was the intention behind posting this topic here.

[catx]

The agencies for filing this type of complaint are the Department of Labor (DoL) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In addition, you can talk to the international students office at your university to see what guidance and advice they can provide.