> Hello All,
>
> I'm currently working on H1B visa and recently accepted a new job
> offer.
> This new company's law firm says that its ok for me to start working
> for the
> company as soon as INS (or whatever the new name is) receives the
> fedex with
> my H1 transfer documentation. However, my friends tell me that I
> should wait
> until INS assigns a "WAC number" for my H1 transfer.
>
> Does anyone know what is the right and the legal thing to do? Is there
> any
> risk involved in doing what the law firm says?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> --AD
Both are right. The law allows you to work upon receipt of your transfer
by USCIS, but it's always safer to wait until USCIS actually believes
they have received it. For instance, on my original H-1 (way way back in
November of 1999) the lawyer sent in the petition and it was sent
straight back with a note saying the check for the filing fee was
missing. We never did work out what happened to that check -- I guess it
must have fallen on the Service Center mailroom floor. Regardless, in
that case if I'd hopped jobs under AC21 I'd have been royally screwed.
(Of course, AC21 didn't exist then, and it was my first H-1, but the
principle is the same.)
So although in theory you can hop jobs the moment FedEx says they
delivered the package, in practice it's wiser to wait until USCIS issues
a receipt. (A 'WAC number' is just a receipt number, and only if issued
by the California Service Center. Other Service Centers have different
prefixes on their receipt number.) With Premium Processing, the receipt
should arrive by e-mail within a couple of days: with regular
processing, the delay could be weeks.
Alistair (not a lawyer, so don't rely on this!)
--
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