H1B Approval notice sent, but Notice of Action not receieved till date

[rkscmhoh]

Hi folks,

My employer (a large IT company in India) filed for my H1B in March 2008.
After a few months, I checked the case status and found the following status against my receipt number that starts with WAC...

"Application Type: I129, PETITION FOR A NONIMMIGRANT WORKER

Current Status: Approval notice sent.
On August 7, 2008, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129 PETITION FOR A NONIMMIGRANT WORKER. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service."

I presumed that my employer would have received the I-797 Notice of Action document from the USCIS thereafter. In July 2009, there was a need for me to travel to US, I checked with my employer for my H1B.

To my utter shock, they told me that they have not received the approval notice till date!!!

Questions in my mind:
1) Can such a thing happen -on one hand, USCIS has has updated the status on their site as above, and on the other, they have not sent the I-797 to my employer? Did my empoyer mess up in my case? They dont seem to know any reason why this should have happened. They also advised me to forget about it and apply for H1B against the H1-Cap.

2) Is the cap still not fullfilled? And, will it not be an issue for me to apply for another fresh H1-B with same employer while another case still is open?

Will greatly appreciate your thoughts and suggestions on these queries ?

Regards and best wishes to you all.

[contact 01]

Hi folks,

My employer (a large IT company in India) filed for my H1B in March 2008.
After a few months, I checked the case status and found the following status against my receipt number that starts with WAC...

"Application Type: I129, PETITION FOR A NONIMMIGRANT WORKER

Current Status: Approval notice sent.
On August 7, 2008, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129 PETITION FOR A NONIMMIGRANT WORKER. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service."

I presumed that my employer would have received the I-797 Notice of Action document from the USCIS thereafter. In July 2009, there was a need for me to travel to US, I checked with my employer for my H1B.

To my utter shock, they told me that they have not received the approval notice till date!!!

Questions in my mind:
1) Can such a thing happen -on one hand, USCIS has has updated the status on their site as above, and on the other, they have not sent the I-797 to my employer? Did my empoyer mess up in my case? They dont seem to know any reason why this should have happened. They also advised me to forget about it and apply for H1B against the H1-Cap.

Please ask your employer to register a complaint with USCIS customer service regarding the H-1b approval notice.
Another option is that you employer can very well file I-824 application with USCIS for duplicate H-1b approval notice.

Do you have the hard copy of the H-1b receipt and did you see your name in the receipt. If you have the h-1b receipt and also your name in it. Then demand your employer to file I-824 application for request of Duplicate of H-1b approval notice.


2) Is the cap still not fullfilled? And, will it not be an issue for me to apply for another fresh H1-B with same employer while another case still is open?

If you have a proof with you that your case has been approved then why did you need to file another application even if the quota still open.

If you want a new application then file with different employer who is geniune.

Note: This is not a legal advice, please consult an attorney

[rkscmhoh]

Dear Contact 01, thankyou your response.

Just wanted to highlight that my employer is among the top 5 Tier1 IT companies in Asia with over 70000 employees. Filing such H1-B on behalf of the employees is a standard process for them.

An employee has to raise a request on the company's SAP system to apply for H1-B petition and provide all the necessary documentation. I did that in Feb 2008. After that, a specific department in the company takes up the rest of the steps. So they have not given me any receipt. They will retain all such documents until such an employee has to be deputed to US on an Onsite assignment.

The only proof that I have is the status update on the USCIS website for the receipt number that I got for my case from my company's SAP system. That's the reason I asked Question 1.
When you said hard copy of the H-1b receipt did you mean the I-797?
Also, I asked my employer about new application, and they said it would not be a problem. That's the reason why I put my Question 2 to this forum.

The trouble is that I am not aware of the all the steps in the process that a H1B application goes through. I believe the process is simple as outlined below (Pls add/ correct):

a) Employer files the I-129 form for H1-B on behalf of an employee with all the required documents and the necessary fees.
b) USCIS acknowledges the receipt and cashes the checks to begin the processing (I expected that the USCIS website gets updated for the reciept number to show the current status).
c) The applicant's (the beneficiary individual) history is checked by the USCIS against the various yardsticks laid by the USCIS.
d) If there is a need for further evidence, the USCI requests for more information under the RFE clauses. The status of the case is updated on the USCIS website accordingly). If not, then the USCIS issues the approval notice letter called Notice of Action on the form I-797. The status of the case is updated on the USCIS website accordingly (as shown in quoted bold black in my first post).
e) The employer furnishes the information sought by the USCIS in the RFE.
f) The USCIS resumes processing and if all is well, issues the approval notice letter called Notice of Action on the form I-797. The status of the case is updated on the USCIS website accordingly (as shown in bold black in my first post).
g) Once the I-797 Notice of Action with Approval for H1B is available with the employer, they can send the beneficiary to the consulate for visa stamping.

With that given, I am sure my employer would have a weighted opinion on why they are not pursuing with the USCIS. I will check with them about I-824 application. But before I do that, it would be very helpful if this forum can educate me about the artefacts that should be checked to establish that a H1B application case has been approved and necessary documents delivered.
What are the valid sources to check out these?

Appologies for the long post, but these subjects need elaboration.

Regards and best wishes.

[contact 01]

Dear Contact 01, thankyou your response.

Just wanted to highlight that my employer is among the top 5 Tier1 IT companies in Asia with over 70000 employees. Filing such H1-B on behalf of the employees is a standard process for them.

An employee has to raise a request on the company's SAP system to apply for H1-B petition and provide all the necessary documentation. I did that in Feb 2008. After that, a specific department in the company takes up the rest of the steps. So they have not given me any receipt. They will retain all such documents until such an employee has to be deputed to US on an Onsite assignment.

The only proof that I have is the status update on the USCIS website for the receipt number that I got for my case from my company's SAP system. That's the reason I asked Question 1.
When you said hard copy of the H-1b receipt did you mean the I-797?
Also, I asked my employer about new application, and they said it would not be a problem. That's the reason why I put my Question 2 to this forum.

The trouble is that I am not aware of the all the steps in the process that a H1B application goes through. I believe the process is simple as outlined below (Pls add/ correct):

a) Employer files the I-129 form for H1-B on behalf of an employee with all the required documents and the necessary fees.
b) USCIS acknowledges the receipt and cashes the checks to begin the processing (I expected that the USCIS website gets updated for the reciept number to show the current status).
c) The applicant's (the beneficiary individual) history is checked by the USCIS against the various yardsticks laid by the USCIS.
d) If there is a need for further evidence, the USCI requests for more information under the RFE clauses. The status of the case is updated on the USCIS website accordingly). If not, then the USCIS issues the approval notice letter called Notice of Action on the form I-797. The status of the case is updated on the USCIS website accordingly (as shown in quoted bold black in my first post).
e) The employer furnishes the information sought by the USCIS in the RFE.
f) The USCIS resumes processing and if all is well, issues the approval notice letter called Notice of Action on the form I-797. The status of the case is updated on the USCIS website accordingly (as shown in bold black in my first post).
g) Once the I-797 Notice of Action with Approval for H1B is available with the employer, they can send the beneficiary to the consulate for visa stamping.

With that given, I am sure my employer would have a weighted opinion on why they are not pursuing with the USCIS. I will check with them about I-824 application. But before I do that, it would be very helpful if this forum can educate me about the artefacts that should be checked to establish that a H1B application case has been approved and necessary documents delivered.
What are the valid sources to check out these?

First of all, the candidate can ask his/ her employer for the hard copy of H-1b receipt. In the H-1b receipt, you can see your name in the beneficiary column. If your name appears in the notice then your employer has filed the H-1b process for you. That 's reason everyone ask his/her employer to provide a copy of the H-1b receipt.

Further in order to know the updates it is better to check the application in USCIS website. It will give information whether the application is approved or not. Also you will know on which date your application is approved.

Note: This is not a legal advice, please consult an attorney