Strategy used for transferring H1B when i was out of status

[kumar.kv]

All's well that ends well :)

 

Here was my situation - 

.

I lost my job with Company A during DEC 2014. Accepted a new offer with company B during MAR 2015 and by the time they filed the H1 transfer petition, I was out of status for 65 days without any recent payslips.

 

My I-94 was valid until Nov 2015 but stamping was already expired.

 

Company B is one of the biggest US consulting firms. I started working as soon as the transfer petition was filed. When filing the transfer petition via I-129 form, they did not ask for an extension of stay but mentioned that I would be applying for a visa abroad at Chennai. You can mention this in the Requested Action question in Part 2 of the I-129 form. We did not attach any payslips with the petition.

 

Petition was filed on premium processing, got an RFE within a week asking for client letter.

Responded to the RFE in 2 weeks with the client letter and got approval. Petition was filed on MAR 6th and approval came on APRIL10th. As expected, the approval came without I-94.

 

Had we requested for an extension of stay, it probably would have been denied with a notice asking me to leave the country immediately. With the stategy followed by B, I didn't get any such notice and didn't have to leave the country immediately. My employer B still asked me to go get a visa at Chennai as soon as I can. I spoke to client manager and got approval to travel in the first week of June. 

 

Interview was on June 2nd at Chennai. I was very tensed and nervous. But the interview was very easy with just a few basic questions. The officer only asked for the client letter.

He did not ask anything about my lost H1 status for those 65 days. The interview barely lasted 2 minutes and was approved.

 

I flew back to the states on June 7th, got a new I-94 and reactivated my H1 status :)

[livliv]

You got lucky. You can get more scrutiny in all future petitions too. (Not to scare you, but prepare you).

Remember that all the employment with B was illegal until you traveled and returned.

 

Even if change of status was requested, it would have been approved, just without the change of status part. So asking for consular processing did not change anything.