Hi All,
I have couple of questions for my case of H1b. Please advise me on this.
i94 valid till June 2019. About 5 years in current H1b.
OLD Employer - laid off on Dec 2018
Old employer did not withdraw H1b petition.
Rejoined Old employer on some project on 1st Feb 2019.
Old employer ran pay stub for Dec 2018. (might be running stub for Jan 19 as well).
New employer is filing H1b transfer now.
Do i need to join new employer within 60 days or i can join after 60 day also?
Am i still considered in 60 days grace period even if i am joining my old employer back and they did not withdraw my H1b petition?
The whole thing depends on how your old Employer has shown you in their employment records and payroll.
You are saying that they are going to run payroll for Jan too which means that you were never laid off (in books).
If that’s the situation, then you can file H1B transfer normally without any 60 day consideration.
Rejoining same old Employer in 60 day grace
If you rejoin the same employer A after say 45 days of grace period using the same existing H1B petition (no new petition was filed since you re-joined the same employer again), and then later same employer A terminates you, while still on the same H1B approval, you don’t get another 60 days.
Thanks a lot for such a quick reply.
In case Old employer runs Jan sub with less hours and mostly LWOP (loss of pay). Will it be considered under 60 day grace period?
If Yes (for 60 day grace) then do my new employer need to show the 60day thing in the H1 transfer petition?
Do you advise me to join new employer based on receipt number? Also somehow my November pay stub too has less hours.
The 60 day grace period is for people who cannot maintain their H1B status.
H1B status is not maintained if your Employer terminates you in their books. Which would mean that they did not run payroll for you and did not report you as employee to government.
If your old Employer is showing you as an employee by running your payroll even with less hours, you are still maintaining your status.
The only problem that i see is the RFE from USCIS asking for the reason of not giving work and pay for full time as per H1B approved application.
Join H1B Transfer Employer on receipt
If you do not have any other reliable option like working for your old Employer, then you should join new employer on transfer receipt.
If you have a good project with your old (current) Employer, i suggest to join new transfer Employer only after H1B Transfer approval.